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LEGENDS 

OF  THE 

PATRIARCHS  AND  PROPHETS. 


v  * 


LEGENDS 


OF  THE 


PATRIARCHS  AND  PROPHETS 

AND  OTHER 

OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS 


FROM  VARIOUS'  SOURCES 


BY  THE 

REV,  S.  BARING-GOULD,  M.A. 

AUTHOR  OF  “  CURIOUS  MYTHS  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES,’’  “  THE  ORIGIN  AND  DEVELOP* 
MENT  OF  RELIGIOUS  BELIEF, ”  “  IN  EXITU  ISRAEL,’’  ETC. 


NEW  YORK: 

WILLIAM  L.  ALLISON  COMPANY 

54  Warren  Street. 


823JL 

JZZ2. 


PREFACE. 

An  incredible  number  of  legends  exists  connected 
with  the  personages  whose  history  is  given  in  the  Old 
Testament.  The  collection  now  presented  to  the  pub¬ 
lic  must  by  no  means  be  considered  as  exhaustive. 
The  compiler  has  been  obliged  to  limit  himself  as  to  the 
number,  it  being  quite  impossible  to  insert  all.  He 
trusts  that  few  of  peculiar  interest  have  been  omitted. 

The  Mussulman  traditions  are  nearly  all  derived  from 
the  Talmudic  writers,  just  as  the  history  of  Christ  in  the 
Koran  is  taken  from  the  Apocryphal  Gospels.  The 
Koran  follows  the  “  Sepher  Hajaschar  ”  (Book  of  the 
Just)  far  more  closely  than  the  canonical  Scriptures; 
and  the  “  Sepher  Hajaschar  ”  is  a  storehouse  of  the 
Rabbinic  tradition  on  the  subject  of  the  Patriarchs  from 
Adam  to  Joshua. 

The  Jewish  traditions  are  of  various  value.  Some 
can  be  traced  to  their  origin  without  fail.  One  class  is 
derived  from  Persia,  as,  for  instance,  those  of  Asmodeus, 
the  name  of  the  demon  being  taken,  along  with  his 
story,  from  Iranian  sources.  Another  class  springs  from 
the  Cabbalists,  who,  by  permutation  o‘f  the  letters  of  a 


vi 


PREFACE. 


name,  formed  the  nuclei,  so  to  speak,  from  which 
legends  spread. 

Another  class,  again,  is  due  to  the  Rabbinic  com¬ 
mentators,  who,  unable  to  allow  for  poetical  periphrasis, 
insisted  on  literal  interpretations,  and  then  coined 
fables  to  explain  them.  Thus  the  saying  of  David, 
“  Thou  hast  heard  me  from  among  the  horns  of  the  uni - 
corns f  which  signified  that  David  was  assisted  by  God 
in  trouble,  was  taken  quite  literally  by  the  Rabbis,  and 
a  story  was  invented  to  explain  it. 

Another  class,  again,  is  no  doubt  due  to  the  exag¬ 
geration  of  Oriental  imagery,  just  as  that  previously 
mentioned  is  due  to  the  deficiency  of  the  poetic  fancy 
in  certain  Rabbis.  Thus,  imagination  or  defect  of 
imagination,  each  contributed  to  add  to  the  store. 

But  when  we  have  swept  all  these  classes  aside,  there 
remains  a  residuum,  small,  no  doubt,  of  genuine  tradi¬ 
tion.  To  this  class,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  belong  the 
account  of  Lamech  and  his  wives,  and  the  story  of  the 
sacrifice  of  Isaac.  In  the  latter  instance,  the  type 
comes  out  far  clearer  in  the  Talmudic  tradition  than  in 
the  canonical  Scriptures  ;  and  this  can  hardly  have  been 
the  result  of  Jewish  interpolation,  knowing,  as  they  did, 
that  Christians  pointed  triumphantly  to  this  type. 

With  regard  to  Jewish  traditions,  it  is  unfortunate 
that  both  Eisenmenger  and  Bartolocci,  who  collected 
many  of  them,  were  so  prejudiced,  so  moved  with  vio¬ 
lent  animosity  against  the  Rabbinic  writers,  that  they 


PREFACE. 


•  • 
Vll 

preserved  only  the  grotesque,  absurd,  and  indecent 
legends,  and  wholly  passed  over  those — and  there  are 
many  of  them — which  are  redolent  of  poetry  and  which 
contain  an  element  of  truth. 

A  certain  curious  interest  attaches  to  these  legends 
— at  least,  I  think  so  ;  and,  should  they  find  favor  with 
the  public,  this  volume  will  be  followed  by  another  se¬ 
ries  on  the  legends  connected  with  the  New  Testament 
characters. 

The  author  is  not  aware  of  any  existing  collection 
of  these  legends,  except  that  of  M.  Colin  de  Plancy, 
“  Legendes  de  l’Ancien  Testament,”  Paris,  1861  ;  but 
he  has  found  this  work  of  little  or  no  use  to  him  in  com¬ 
posing  his  volume,  as  M.  de  Plancy  gives  no  reference 
to  authorities ;  and  also,  because  nearly  the  whole  of 
the  contents  are  taken  from  D’Herbelot’s  “  Bibliotheque 
Orientale  ”  and  Migne’s  “  Dictionnaire  des  Apocryphes.” 

It  will  be  necessary  to  add  a  few  words  on  certain 
works  largely  quoted  in  the  following  pages. 

1.  Dr.  G.  Weil’s  “  Biblische  Legende  des  Musel- 
manner,”  Frankfurt  a.  M.,  1845,  ls  derived  from  three 
Arabic  MS.  works — “  Charnis ,”  by  Husein  Ibn  Moham¬ 
med  Ibn  Alhasan  Addiarbekri ;  “  Dsachirat  Alulim  wan- 
stidjat  Alfiihum”  by  Ahmed  Ibn  zein  Alabidin  Albekri ; 
and  “  Kiss  at  Alanbija ,”  by  Mohammed  Ibn  Ahmed 
Alkissai. 

2.  The  Chronicle  of  Abou-djafar  Mohammed  Taba¬ 
ri  was  translated  into  Persian  by  Abou  Ali  Mohammed 


PREFACE. 


•  •  • 
vm 

Belami,  who  added  sundry  traditions  circulating  in  Per¬ 
sia  ;  and  has  been  rendered  into  French,  in  part,  by  M. 
Hermann  Zolenberg,  for  the  Oriental  Translation  Fund, 
Paris,  1867. 

3.  The  “  Sepher  Hajaschar,”  or  Book  of  Jasher 
(Yaschar),  is  quoted  from  the  translation  by  Le  Cheva¬ 
lier  P.  L.  B.  Drach,  inserted  in  Migne’s  “  Dictionnaire 
des  Apocryphes.” 

4.  Eisenmenger,  “  Neuentdektes  Judenthum,”  2 
vols.  8vo,  Konigsburg,  171 1,  contains  a  great  many  Rab¬ 
binic  traditions  collected  from  sources  inaccessible  to 
most  persons. 

5.  Bartolocci,  “  Bibliotheca  Magna  Rabbinica,”  4 

vols.  fob,  Rome,  1675-93,  is  a  very  valuable  storehouse 

* 

of  information,  but  sadly  disfigured  by  prejudice. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Preface . v 

I. 

The  Fall  of  the  Angels .  15 

II. 

Adam .  21 

1.  The  Creation  of  Man .  21 

2.  The  Pre-Adamites .  27 

III. 

Eye .  29 

IV. 

The  Fall  of  Man .  36 

y. 

\ 

Adam  and  Eye  after  the  Fall .  48 

VI. 

Cain  and  Abel . 69 

VII. 

The  Death  of  Adam .  77 

VIII. 


Seth, 


81 


X 


CONTENTS. 


IX. 

PAGE 


Cainan  sox  of  Enos .  84 

X. 

Enoch .  85 

1.  The  Translation  of  Enoch . 85 

2.  The  Book  of  Enoch . , .  87 

XI. 

The  Giants .  91 

XII. 

Lamech . . .  96 

XIII. 

Methuselah . 98 

XIY. 

Noah .  99 

XY. 

Heathen  Legends  of  the  Deluge .  106 

XYI. 

The  Planting  of  the  Yine .  121 

XYII. 

The  Sons  of  Noah .  124 

XYIII. 

Relics  of  the  Ark .  126 

XIX. 

Certain  Descendants  of  Ham .  127 

XX. 

Serug .  130 


CONTENTS.  xi 

XXL 

PAGE 

The  Prophet  Eber .  131 

XXII. 

The  Prophet  Saleh .  136 

XXIII. 

The  Tower  of  Babel .  144 

XXIY. 

Abraham . 149 

L  His  Youth  and  early  Struggles .  149 

2.  The  Call  of  Abraham,  and  the  Visit  to  Egypt .  162 

3.  The  War  with  the  Kings .  166 

4.  The  Birth  of  Ishmael . 171 

5.  The  Destruction  of  Sodom  and  Gcmorrali .  172 

6.  The  Birth  of  Isaac . .  177 

7.  The  Expulsion  of  Hagar  and  Ishmael .  181 

8.  The  Strife  between  the  Shepherds .  185 

9.  The  Grove  in  Beer-slieba .  186 

10.  The  Offering  of  Isaac .  187 

11.  The  Death  of  Sarah .  197 

12.  The  Marriage  of  Isaac .  201 

13.  The  Death  of  Abraham . 203 

XXV. 

Melchizedek .  205 

XXVI. 

Of  Ishmael  and  the  Well  Zemzem . : . 210 

XXVII. 

Esau  and  Jacob . 215 

•  1  4  .  I  .  r  t  <  «  ,  •• 

XXVIII. 

Joseph .  227 

XXIX. 

The  Testaments  of  the  Twelve  Patriarchs . 243 


xii 


CONTENTS. 


XXX. 

PAGE 

Job .  245 

XXXI. 

Jethro .  251 

XXXII. 

6- 

Moses .  252 

1.  Israel  in  Egypt .  252 

2.  The  Birth  and  Childhood  of  Moses .  259 

3.  The  Youth  and  Marriage  of  Moses .  266 

4.  Moses  before  Pharaoh .  275 

5.  The  Passage  of  the  Red  Sea .  283 

6.  The  giving  of  the  Law .  288 

7.  The  Manna . „ .  392 

8.  The  Smitten  Rock .  294 

9.  Moses  visits  El  Khoudr .  295 

10.  The  Mission  of  the  Spies . 298 

11.  Of  Ivorah  and  his  Company .  301 

12.  The  Wars  of  the  Israelites .  304 

13.  The  Death  of  Aaron . . 307 

14.  The  Death  of  Moses .  310 

XXXIII. 

Joshua .  315 

■*  •»***«<• 

XXXIY. 

The  Judges . 319 

XXXY. 

Samuel .  319 

XXXYI. 

Saul . 325 

1.  War  with  the  Philistines. — Goliath  slain .  325 

2.  Saul’s  Jealousy  of  David . 329 

3.  The  Death  of  Saul. . .  331 


CONTENTS.  xiii 

XXXYII. 

PAGE 

David .  323 

XXXVIII. 

Solomon .  347 

1.  How  Solomon  obtained  Power .  347 

2.  How  Solomon  feasted  all  Flesh .  349 

3.  The  Building  of  the  Temple .  351 

4.  The  Travels  of  Solomon .  353 

5.  The  History  of  the  Queen  of  Sheba .  358 

6.  Solomon’s  Adventure  with  the  Apes . 364 

7.  Solomon  marries  the  Daughter  of  Pharaoh .  365 

8.  How  Solomon  lost  and  recovered  his  Ring .  366 

9.  The  Death  of  Solomon .  369 

XXXIX. 

Elijah .  371 

XL. 

Isaiah .  373 

XLI. 

Jeremiah . 376 

XLII. 

Ezekiel .  377 

XLIII. 

Ezra . 377 

XLIV. 

Zachariah . 380 


LEGENDS  OF  THE 


PATRIARCHS  AND  PROPHETS. 


i. 

THE  FALL  OF  THE  ANGELS. 

In  the  beginning,  before  the  creation  of  heaven  and  earth, 
God  made  the  angels  ;  free  intelligences  and  free  wills  ;  out  of 
His  love  He  made  them,  that  they  might  be  eternally  happy. 
And  that  their  happiness  might  be  complete,  He  gave  them 
the  perfection  of  a  created  nature  ;  that  is,  He  gave  them 
freedom. 

But  happiness  is  only  attained  by  the  free  will  agreeing  in 
its  freedom  to  accord  with  the  will  of  God.  Some  of  the  an¬ 
gels  by  an  act  of  free  will  obeyed  the  will  of  God,  and  in  such 
obedience  found  perfect  happiness  ;  other  angels  by  an  act  of 
free  will  rebelled  against  the  will  of  God,  and  in  such  disobe¬ 
dience  found  misery. 

Such  is  the  catholic  theory  of  the  fall  of  the  angels. 

Historically,  it  is  represented  as  a  war  in  heaven.  “  And 
there  was  war  in  heaven  :  Michael  and  his  angels  fought  against 
the  dragon  ;  and  the  dragon  fought  and  his  angels ,  and  prevailed 
not ;  neither  was  their  place found  any  more  in  heaven.  And  the 
great  dragon  was  cast  out ,  that  old  serpent,  called  the  Devil,  and 
Satan,  which  deceiveth  the  whole  world;  he  was  cast  out  into  the 
earth,  and  his  angels  were  cast  out  with  him  A  1  The  reason  of 
the  revolt  was  that  Satan  desired  to  be  as  great  as  God.  “  Thou 
hast  said  in  thine  heart  I  will  ascend  into  heaven,  I  will  exalt 
my  throne  above  the  stars  of  God ;  I  will  sit  also  upon  the  mount 
of  the  congregation  in  the  sides  of  the  north  ;  I  will  ascend  above 
the  heights  of  the  clouds  ;  I  will  be  like  the  Aiost  High  A  2 

1  Rev.  xii.  7 — 9.  2  Isaiah  xiv.  13,  14. 


1 6  OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 

The  war  ended  in  the  fall  of  Satan  and  those  whom  he  had 
led  into  apostasy  ;  and  to  this  fall  are  referred  the  words  of 
Christ,  “  I  saw  Satan  like  lightning  fall  from  heaven .”  1 

Fabricius,  in  his  collections  of  the  apocryphal  writings  of 
the  Old  Testament,  has  preserved  the  song  of  triumph  which 
the  Archangel  Michael  sang  on  obtaining  the  victory.  This 
in  a  portion  of  it : — 

“  Glory  to  our  God  !  Praise  to  His  holy  Name  !  He  is 
our  God  ;  glory  be  to  Him  !  He  is  our  Lord  !  His  be  the 
triumph  !  He  has  stretched  forth  His  right  hand ;  He  has 
manifested  His  power,  He  has  cast  down  our  adversaries. 
They  are  mad  who  resist  Him  ;  they  are  accursed  who  depart 
from  His  commandments  !  He  knoweth  all  things,  and  can¬ 
not  err.  His  will  is  sovereignly  just,  and  all  that  He  wills  is 
good,  all  that  He  advises  is  holy.  Supreme  Intelligence  can¬ 
not  be  deceived  ;  Perfect  Being  cannot  will  what  is  evil.  Noth¬ 
ing  is  above  that  which  is  supreme,  nothing  is  better  than  that 
which  is  perfect.  None  is  worthy  beside  Him  but  him  whom 
He  has  made  worthy.  He  must  be  loved  above  all  things  and 
adored  as  the  eternal  King.  You  have  abandoned  your  God, 
you  have  revolted  against  Him,  you  have  desired  to  be  gods  ; 
you  have  fallen  from  your  high  estates,  you  have  gone  down 
like  a  fallen  stone.  Acknowledge  that  God  is  great,  that  His 
works  are  perfect,  and  that  His  judgments  are  just.  Glory 
be  to  God  through  ages  of  ages,  praises  of  joy  for  all  His 
works !  ”  This  song  of  the  Archangel  is  said  to  have  been 
revealed  to  S.  Amadeus.2 

According  to  the  Talmudists,  Satan,  whose  proper  name  is 
Sammael,  was  one  of  the  Seraphim,  with  six  wings.3  He  was 
not  driven  out  of  heaven  till  after  he  had  led  Adam  and  Eve 
into  sin  ;  then  Sammael  and  his  host  were  precipitated  out  of 
the  place  of  bliss,  with  God’s  curse  to  weigh  them  down.  In 
the  struggle  between  Michael,  and  Sammael,  the  falling  Seraph 
caught  the  wings  of  Michael  and  tried  to  drag  him  down  with 
him,  but  God  saved  him,  whence  Michael  derives  his  name 
(the  Rescued).  This  is  what  the  Rabbi  Bechai  says  in  his 
commentary  on  the  Five  Books  of  Moses.4 

1  Luke  x.  18. 

2  Fabracina  (J.  A.)  Codex  Pseudepigraphus  Vet.  Text.  Hamb.,  1722, 
p.  21. 

3  Jalkut  Rubeni,  3.  sub  tit.  Sammael. 

4  Fol.  139,  col.  1 ;  see  Eisenmenger,  i.  p.  831. 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  ANGELS. 


17 


According  to  a  Talmudic  authority,  the  apostate  angels 
having  fallen  in  a  heap,  God  laid  his  little  finger  on  them 
and  consumed  them.1 

Sammael  was  the  regent  of  the  planet  Mars,  and  this  he 
rules  still,  and  therefore  it  is  that  those  born  under  the  influ¬ 
ence  of  that  star  are  lovers  of  war  and  given  to  strife. 2 

He  was  chief  among  the  angels  of  God,  and  now  he  is 
prince  among  devils. 3  His  name  is  derived  from  Simme, 
which  means  to  blind  and  deceive.  He  stands  on  the  left  side 
of  men.  He  goes  by  various  names ;  such  as  the  Old  Serpent, 
the  Unclean  Spirit,  Satan,  Leviathan,  and  sometimes  also 
Asael.  In  his  fall  he  spat  in  his  hatred  against  God,  and  his 
spittle  stained  the  moon,  and  thus  it  is  that  the  moon  has  on 
it  spots. 

After  his  fall,  Satan  took  to  himself  four  wives,  Lilith  and 
Naama  the  daughter  of  Lamech  and  sister  of  Tubal-Cain, 
Igereth  and  Machalath.  Each  became  the  mother  of  a  great 
host  of  devils,  and  each  rules  with  her  host  over  a  season  of 
the  year ;  and  at  the  change  of  seasons  there  is  a  great  gath¬ 
ering  of  devils  about  their  mothers.  Lilith  is  followed  by  four 
hundred  and  seventy-eight  legions  of  devils,  for  that  number  is 
comprised  in  her  name  (rp?**? — 478).  According  to  some,  Lil¬ 
ith  is  identical  with  Eve.  She  rules  over  Damascus,  Naama 
over  Tyre,  Igereth  over  Malta  and  Rhodes,  and  Machalath 
over  Crete. 4 

Many  traditions  date  the  existence  of  angels  and  demons 
from  a  remote  period  before  the  creation  of  the  world,  but 
some  connect  the  fall  of  Satan  and  his  host  with  the  creation 
of  man. 

Abou-Djafar-Mohammed  Tabari  says  that  when  God  made 
Adam,  He  bade  all  the  angels  worship  him  as  their  king  and 
superior,  assays  the  Koran,  “All  the  angels  adored  Adam” 
(xv.  30),  but  that  Satan  or  Eblis  answered  God,  “I  will  not 
adore  Adam,  for  he  is  made  of  earth  and  I  of  fire,  therefore  I 
am  better  than  he  ”  (vii.  1 1),  and  that  God  thereupon  cursed 
Eblis  and  gave  him  the  form  of  a  devil,  because  of  his  pride, 
vain  confidence,  and  disobedience.5 

Abulfeda  says,  “After  God  had  made  man  He  thus  ad¬ 
dressed  the  angels.  ‘  When  I  have  breathed  a  portion  of  my 

1  Jalkut  RuUni,  in  Eisenmenger,  i.  p.  307. 

2  Eisenmenger,  i.  p.  104.  n  Ibid,  i.  p.  820.  4  Ibid,  ii.  416,  420, 42 1. 

5  Chronique  de  Tabari.  Paris,  1S67,  i.  c.  xxvii. 


i8 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


spirit  into  him,  bow  before  him  and  adore.’  After  He  had 
inspired  Adam  with  His  spirit,  all  the  angels  of  every  degree 
adored  him,  except  Eblis  ;  he,  through  pride  and  envy,  scorn¬ 
ed  to  do  this,  and  disobeyed  God.  Then  God  cursed -him, 
and  he  cut  him  off  from  all  hope  in  divine  mercy,  and  He 
called  him  Scheithanan  redjiman  (Satan  devoted  to  misery), 
and  He  cast  him  out  who  had  been  before  an  angel  of  the 
earth,  and  keeper  of  terrestrial  things,  and  a  guardian  of 
Paradise.”  1 

But  the  general  opinion  seems  to  have  been  that  the  fall 
of  the  angels  preceded  the  creation  of  man.  Ibn-Ezra  dates 
it  on  the  second  day  of  creation,  others  on  the  first  day  when 
God  “  divided  the  light  from  the  darkness .”  Manasseh  Ben 
Israel  says  that  God  has  placed  the  devils  in  the  clouds,  that 
they  might  torment  the  wicked  with  thunder  and  lightnings, 
and  showers  of  hail  and  tempests  of  wind,  and  that  this  took 
place  on  the  second  day,  when  the  firmaments  were  divided. 

As  the  fall  of  Satan  took  place  through  his  aspiration  to  be 
God,  so  it  is  closely  connected  with  the  origin  of  idolatry  and 
false  worship  ;  for  now  that  Satan  is  cast  out  of  heaven,  he 
still  seeks  to  exalt  himself  into  the  place  of  God,  and  there¬ 
fore  leads  men  from  the  worship  of  the  true  God  intodemon- 
olatry.  Thus  the  gods  of  the  heathens  were  regarded  by 
the  first  Christians  as  devils  aspiring  to  receive  that  worship 
from  men  on  earth  which  they  sought  and  failed  to  obtain  in 
heaven.  Thus  St.  Paul  tells  the  Corinthians  that  “  the 
Gentiles  sacrifice  to  devils .”  2  The  temptation  of  Christ  can 
only  be  fully  understood  when  we  bear  in  mind  that  pride  and 
craving  for  worship  is  the  prime  source  of  Satan’s  actions. 
“  All  frhese  will  I  give  theef  he  said  to  Christ,  “  if  Thou  wilt 
fall  down  and  worship  me.”  It  was  a  second  attempt  of 
Satan  to  set  himself  above  the  Most  High. 

Among  the  heathen,  traditions  of  the  Angelic  apostasy  and 
war  have  remained. 

The  Indian  story  is  as  follows  : — 

At  the  head  of  the  apostate  spirits  is  Mahisasura,  or  the 
great  Asur ;  he  and  those  who  followed  him  were  once  good, 
but  before  the  creation  of  the  world  they  refused  obedience  to 
Brahma,  wherefore  they  were  cast  down  by  the  assistance  of 
Schiva  into  the  abyss  of  Onderah.3  Mahisasura  is  also  repre- 

1  Abulfeda,  Hist.  Ante-Islamica.  Lipsias.  1831,  p.  13. 

2  1  Cor.  x.  20,  3  Majer.  Mythologische  Lexicon.  Th.  i.  p.  231. 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  ANGELS. 


J9 

sented  as  the  great  serpent  Vrita,  against  which  Indra  fought, 
and  which  after  a  desperate  struggle  he  overcame. 

The  Persian  tradition  is  that  Ahriman,  the  chief  of  the 
rebels,  is  not  by  nature  evil.  He  was  not  created  evil  by  the 
Eternal  One,  but  he  became  evil  by  revolting  against  his  will ; 
and  the  ancient  books  of  the  Parsees  assert  that  at  the  last 
day  Ahriman  will  return  to  obedience,  and  having  been  puri¬ 
fied  by  fire,  will  regain  the  place  among  the  heavenly  beings 
which  he  lost.  In  this  war  the  Izeds  fought  against  the  Divs, 
headed  by  Ahriman,  and  flung  the  conquered  into  Douzahk 
or  hell. 

The  Norse  story  is  that  Loki,  the  spirit  of  evil,  is  one  of 
the  gods,  and  sat  with  them  at  their  table  till  he  declared  him¬ 
self  their  enemy,  when  he  with  his  vile  progeny,  the  wolf  and  the 
serpent,  were  cast  out.  The  wolf  is  bound,  Thor  constrains 
the  serpent,  and  Loki  is  chained  under  the  mountains,  and  a 
serpent  distils  poison  on  his  breast ;  when  he  tosses  in  agony, 
the  earth  quakes. 

In  Egypt,  Typhon  was  brother  of  Osriris,  but  he  revolted 
against  him. 

Maximus  of  Tyre,  and  Apollonius  of  Rhodes,  following 
Orpheus,  speak  of  the  war  of  the  gods  against  the  angels  who 
rebelled  under  their  chief  Ophion,  or  the  serpent,  and  Phere- 
cydes,  according  to  Origen,  sang  of  this  event  as  having  taken 
place  in  pre-historic  times;  so  that  the  knowledge  of  it  could 
only  have  reached  man  by  revelation.  He  described  the  two 
armies  face  to  face, — one  commanded  by  Saturn,  the  supreme 
Creator  ;  the  other  by  Ophioneus,  the  old  Dragon,  and  the 
defeat  of  the  latter  and  its  expulsion  from  the  realms  of  bliss  to 
Ogenos,  the  regions  of  annihilation.1  The  story  of  the  Titans 
is  connected  with  this.  They  were  the  sons  of  Uranus 
(heaven)  and  Ge  (earth),  and  dwelt  originally  in  heaven, 
whence  they  are  called  Uranidae.  They  were  twelve  in  num¬ 
ber.  Uranus  threw  out  of  heaven  his  other  sons,  the  Heca- 
toncheires  and  the  Cyclopes,  and  precipitated  them  into  Tar¬ 
tarus.  Whereupon  Ge  persuaded  her  sons,  the  Titans,  to  rise 
up  against  their  father,  and  liberate  their  brethren.  They 
did  as  their  mother  bade  them,  deposed  Uranus,  and  placed  on 
his  throne  their  brother  Cronus,  who  immediately  re-imprison¬ 
ed  the  Cyclopes.  But  Zeus  with  his  brothers  fought  against 
the  reigning  Titans,  cast  them  out  of  heaven,  and  enthroned 

1  Orig.  adv.  Gels.  vi.  42. 


20 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


himself  on  the  seat  of  Cronus  ;  and  the  Titans  he  enchained 

in  the  abvss  under  Tartarus. 

•/ 

This  is  simply  the  same  story  told  over  twice,  and  formed 
into  a  dynasty.  Chronos  Titan  is  the  same  as  the  Arabic 
Scheitan,  the  Erse  Teitin,  the  Time-god,  and  the  Biblical 
Satan,  or  Lucifer,  the  Son  of  the  Morning. 

Amongst  the  Battas  of  Sumatra  exists  a  myth  to  this  effect : 
Batara  Guru,  the  supreme  God,  from  whose  daughter  Putiarla 
Buran  all  mankind  are  descended,  cast  the  mountain  Bak- 
kara  out  of  heaven  upon  the  head  of  the  serpent,  his  foe,  and 
made  the  home  of  his  son  Layanga-layaad-mandi  on  the  top 
of  this  mountain.  From  this  summit  the  son  descended  that 
he  might  bind  the  hands  or  feet  of  the  serpent,  as  it  shook 
its  head  and  made  the  earth  rock. 

Connected  with  the  fall  of  Satan  is  his  lameness.  The  dev¬ 
il  is  represented  in  art  and  in  legion  as  limping  on  one  foot; 
this  was  occasioned  by  his  having  broken  his  leg  in  his  fall. 

Hephaestus,  who  pursued  Athene  and  attempted  to  out¬ 
rage  divine  Wisdom,  was  precipitated  from  heaven  into  the 
fire-island  Lemnos,  and  was  lamed  thereby.  Hermes  cut 
the  ham-string  out  of  Typhon,  therewith  to  string  his  lyre. 
The  Norse  god  Loki  lusted  after  Freya,  and  was  lamed 
therefor.  Wieland  the  smith  (Volundr),  who  ventured  to  do 
violence  to  Beodohild,  was  lamed,  and  was  known  thereby. 
Phaethon,  daring  to  drive  his  father’s  chariot  of  the  sun,  was 
cast  out  and  thrown  to  earth. 

The  natives  of  the  Caroline  Islands  relate  that  one  of  the 
inferior  gods,  named  Merogrog,  was  driven  by  the  other  gods 
out  of  heaven,  and  he  took  with  him  a  spark  of  fire  which  he 
gave  to  men.1  This  myth  resembles  that  of  Prometheus,  “the 
contriver,  full  of  gall  and  bitterness,  who  sinned  against  the 
gods  by  bestowing  their  honors  on  creatures  of  a  day,  the  thief 
of  fire,”  as  Hermes  calls  him.  He  reappears  as  Tohil  among 
the  Quiches,  the  giver  of  fire,  hated,  yet  adored. 

The  Northern  Californians  say  that  the  supreme  God  once 
created  invisible  spirits,  of  whom  one  portion  revolted  against 
him,  headed  by  a  spirit  named  War  orTouparan,  and  that  the 
Great  Spirit  having  overcome  him,  drove  him  from  the  plains 
of  heaven,  and  confined  him  along  with  his  comrades  in  a 
cavern,  where  he  is  guarded  by  whales. 2 

1  Lettres  Edifiantes,  viii.  p.  420. 

2  Bibliotheque  Univ.  de  Geneve,  1827  ;  D’Anselme,  i.  p.  228. 


ADAM. 


2  I 

The  Egyptian  Typhon,  already  alluded  to,  did  not  belong 
to  Egypt  alone,  but  also  to  Phoenicia  and  Asia  Minor,  and 
thence  the  story  passed  into  Greece,  where  it  took  root,  and 
has  been  preserved  to  us  as  the  attack  of  the  hundred-headed 
dragon  against  the  heaven-god  Zeus.  Typhon  desired  to  obtain 
supremacy  over  gods  and  men,  and,  in  order  to  win  for  him¬ 
self  this  sovereignty,  he  fought  against  the  gods  ;  but  he  was 
defeated,  bound,  and  precipitated  into  Tartarus,  or,  according 
to  another  version,  was  buried  under  the  flaming  mountains. 

According  to  a  tradition  of  the  Salivas,  a  people  of  New 
Granada,  a  serpent  slew  the  nations,  descended  from  God,  who 
inhabited  the  region  of  the  Orinoco,  but  a  son  of  the  God  Puru 
fought  him  and  overcame  him,  and  bade  him  depart  with  his 
curse,  and  never  to  enter  his  house  again,  and,  say  these  Sali¬ 
vas,  from  the  flesh  of  the  serpent  sprang  the  Caribees,  their 
great  foes,  as  maggots  from  putrid  meat.1 

But  these  stories  might  be  infinitely  extended.  How  far 
they  refer  to  a  tradition  common  to  the  human  race,  and  how 
far  they  relate  to  the  strife  between  summer  and  winter,  sun 
and  storm-cloud,  I  do  not  pretend  to  decide.  It  is  one  of 
those  vexed  questions  which  it  is  impossible  ta^determine. 

II. 

ADAM. 

I.  THE  CREATION  OF  MAN. 

Certain  of  the  angels  having  fallen,  God  made  men,  that 
they  might  take  their  vacated  places. 

According  to  the  most  authoritative  Mussulman  traditions, 
Adam  was  created  on  Friday  afternoon  at  the  Assr-hour,  or 
about  three  o’clock.  The  four  archangels — Gabriel,  Michael, 
Israfiel,  and  Asrael — were  required  to  bring  earth  from  the 
four  quarters  of  the  world,  that  therefrom  God  might  fashion 
man.  His  head  and  breast  were  made  of  clay  from  Mecca 
and  Medina,  from  the  spot  where  later  were  the  Holy  Ivaaba 
and  the  tomb  of  Mohammed.  Although  still  lifeless,  his 
beauty  amazed  the  angels  who  had  flocked  to  the  gates  of 

1  Hist.  Naturelle  de  l’Orinoque,  par  Tos.  Gumilla.  Avignon,  1751,  t.  i. 

p.  172 


22 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


Paradise.  But  Eblis,  envious  of  the  beauty  of  Adam’s  as 
yet  inanimate  form,  said  to  the  angels  :  “  How  can  you  ad¬ 

mire  a  creature  made  of  earth  ?  From  such  material  noth¬ 
ing  but  fragility  and  feebleness  can  come.”  However,  most 
of  the  angels  praised  God  for  what  he  had  done. 

The  body  of  Adam  was  so  great,  that  if  he  stood  up  his 
head  would  reach  into  the  seventh  heaven.  But  he  was  not 
as  yet  endowed  with  a  living  soul.  The  soul  had  been  made 
a  thousand  years  before,  and  had  been  steeped  all  that  while 
in  the  sea  of  light  which  flowed  from  Allah.  God  now  or¬ 
dered  the  soul  to  enter  the  body.  It  showed  some  indisposi¬ 
tion  to  obey;  thereupon  God  exclaimed:  “Quicken  Adam 
against  your  will,  and,  as  a  penalty  for  your  disobedience, 
you  shall  leave  the  body  sorely  against  your  will.  Then  God 
blew  the  spirit  against  Adam  with  such  force  that  it  entered 
his  nose,  and  ran  up  into  his  head,  and  as  soon  as  it  reached 
his  eyes  Adam  opened  them,  and  saw  the  throne  of  God  with 
the  inscription  upon  it :  “  There  is  no  God  but  God,  and  Mo¬ 
hammed  is  His  prophet.”  Then  the  soul  ran  into  his  ears, 
and  Adam  heard  the  song  of  the  angels;  thereupon  his 
tongue  was  unloosed,  for  by  this  time  the  soul  had  reached  it, 
and  he  said,  “  Praise  be  to  Thee,  my  Creator,  one  and  only  !  ” 
And  God  answered  him :  “  For  this  purpose  are  you  made. 
You  and  your  successors  must  pray  to  me,  and  you  will  find 
mercy  and  loving-kindness  at  my  hands.”  Then  the  soul 
penetrated  all  the  members,  reaching  last  of  all  the  feet  of 
Adam,  which  receiving  strength,  he  sprang  up,  and  stood 
upon  the  earth.  But  when  he  stood  upright  he  was  obliged 
to  close  his  eyes,  for  the  light  of  God’s  throne  shining  di¬ 
rectly  into  them  blinded  them.  “What  light  is  this?”  he 
asked,  as  he  covered  his  eyes  with  one  hand,  and  indicated 
the  throne  with  the  other.  “  It  is  the  light  of  a  prophet,” 
God  answered,  “  who  will  spring  from  thee  in  later  ages.  By 
mine  honor  I  swear,  for  him  alone  have  I  created  the  world. 
In  heaven  he  bears  the  name  of  the  much  lauded,  and  on 
earth  he  will  be  called  Mohammed.  Through  him  all  men 
will  be  led  out  of  error  into  the  way  of  truth.” 

God  then  called  all  created  animals  before  Adam,  and  told 
him  their  names  and  their  natures.  Then  He  called  up  all  the 
angels,  and  bade  them  bow  before  Adam,  the  man  whom  He 
had  made.  Israfiel  obeyed  first,  and  God  gave  to  him  in 
recompense  the  custody  of  the  Book  of  Fate  ;  the  other  angels 


ADAM. 


23 


obeyed  in  order  ;  only  Eblis  refused,  in  the  pride  of  his  heart, 
saying,  “  Why  shall  I,  who  am  made  of  fire,  bend  before  him 
who  is  made  of  earth  ?  ”  Therefore  he  was  cast  out  of  the 
angel  choirs,  and  was  forbidden  admission  through  the  gates 
of  Paradise.  Adam  also  was  led  out  of  Paradise,  and  he 
preached  to  the  angels,  who  stood  before  him  in  ten  thousand 
ranks,  a  sermon  on  the  power,  majesty,  and  goodness  of  God, 
and  he  showed  such  learning  and  knowledge — for  he  could 
name  each  beast  in  seventy  languages — that  the  angels  were 
amazed  at  his  knowledge,  which  excelled  their  own.  As  a  re¬ 
ward  for  having  preached  this  sermon,  God  sent  Adam  a 
bunch  of  grapes  out  of  Paradise  by  the  hands  of  Gabriel.1 

In  the  Midrash,  the  Rabbinical  story  is  as  follows  : 
“  When  God  wished  to  make  man,  Pie  consulted  with  the  an¬ 
gels,  and  said  to  them,  We  will  make  a  man  in  our  image. 
Then  they  said,  What  is  man,  that  you  regard  him,  and  what  is 
his  nature  ?  Pie  answered,  His  knowledge  excels  yours.  Then 
He  placed  all  kinds  of  beasts  before  them,  wild  beasts  and 
fowls  of  the  air,  and  asked  them  their  names,  but  they  knew 
them  not.  And  after  Adam  was  made,  He  led  them  before 
him,  and  Pie  asked  Adam  their  names,  and  he  replied  at  once, 
This  is  an  ox,  that  is  an  ass,  this  is  a  horse,  that  is  a  camel, 
and  so  forth.”  2 

The  story  told  by  Tabari  is  somewhat  different. 

When  God  would  make  Adam,  He  ordered  Gabriel  to 
bring  Him  a  handful  of  every  sort  of  clay,  black,  white,  red, 
yellow,  blue,  and  every  other  kind.3  Gabriel  went  to  the 
middle  of  the  earth  to  the  place  where  now  is  Kaaba.  He 
wished  to  stoop  and  take  the  clay,  but  the  earth  said  to  him, 
“  O  Gabriel,  what  doest  thou  ?  ”  4  And  Gabriel  answered,  “  I 
am  fetching  a  little  clay,  dust,  and  stone,  that  thereof  God 
may  make  a  Lord  for  thee.”  Then  the  earth  swore  by  God, 
“  Thou  shalt  take  of  me  neither  clay  nor  dust  nor  stone  ;  what 
if  of  the  creatures  made  from  me  some  should  arise  who  would 
do  evil  upon  the  earth,  and  shed  innocent  blood  ?  ”  5  Gabriel 
withdrew,  respecting  the  oath,  and  took  no  earth  ;  and  he 
said  to  God,  “  Thou  knowest  what  the  earth  said  to  me.”  6 

1  Eisenmenger,  i.  p.  369. 

2  Muller,  Amerikanische  Urreligionen  ;  Basle,  1855.  Atherne  fones, 
North  American  Traditions,  i.  p.  210,  etc.  Heckewelder’s  Indian  Na¬ 
tions,  etc. 

3  Fourmont  Anciens  Peuples,  i.  lib.  ii.  p.  10  4  Aves,  666. 

5  Memoires  des  Chinois,  i.  p.  105. 

6  Berosus,  in  Cory’s  Ancient  Fragments,  p.  26. 


24 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS . 


Then  God  sent  Michael  and  bade  him  fetch  a  little  mud. 
But  when  Michael  arrived,  the  earth  swore  the  same  oath. 

And  Michael  respected  the  oath  and  withdrew. 

Then  God  sent  Azrael,  the  angel  of  death.  He  came,  and 
the  earth  swore  the  same  oath  ;  but  he  did  not  retire,  but  an¬ 
swered  and  said,  “  I  must  obey  the  command  of  God  in  spite 
of  thine  oath.” 

And  the  angel  of  death  stooped,  and  took  from  forty  ells 
below  the  earth  clay  of  every  sort,  as  we  have  said,  and  there¬ 
from  God  made  Adam. 

No  one  in  the  world  had  seen  a  form  like  that  of  Adam. 
Hareth  or  Satan  went  to  look  at  him.  Adam  had  lain  stretch¬ 
ed  in  the  same  place  for  the  space  of  about  forty  years.  No 
one  thought  of  him  or  knew  what  sort  of  a  thing  he  was.  Ha¬ 
reth  coming  up  to  him,  saw  him  stretched  from  east  to  west, 
of  huge  size  and  as  dry  as  dry  palm  leaves.  Then  Hareth 
pushed  Adam,  and  the  dry  earth  rattled.  Hareth  was  aston¬ 
ished.  He  examined  the  form  more  attentively,  and  he  found 
that  it  was  hollow.  Then  he  went  to  the  mouth  and  crept  in 
at  it,  and  crept  out  again  and  let  the  angels  know  the  doubt 
that  was  in  his  breast,  for  he  said,  “  This  creature  is  nothing, 
its  inside  is  empty,  and  a  hollow  thing  can  easily  be  broken. 
Now  that  God  has  made  him,  He  has  given  him  the  empire 
of  the  world,  but  I  will  fight  against  him  and  drive  him  from 
the  earth  as  I  drove  out  the  Jins.  What  is  your  advice  ?  ” 

The  angels  answered,  “  O  Hareth,  if  we  overcame  the  Jins 
it  was  in  obedience  to  God’s  command.  Now  that  God  has 
created  this  thing,  if  He  orders  us  to  submit  to  it,  we  must  do 
so.”  Now  when  Hareth  saw  that  the  angels  thought  other¬ 
wise,  he  changed  his  discourse  and  said,  “  You  speak  the 
truth,  I  agree  with  you,  but  I  wanted  to  prove  you.” 

When  God  gave  the  soul  to  Adam,  it  entered  his  throat 
and  passed  down  into  his  bosom  and  belly,  and  wherever  it 
passed,  the  earth,  the  clay,  the  dust,  and  the  black  mud  be¬ 
came  bones,  nerves,  veins,  flesh,  skin,  and  the  like.  And  when 
his  soul  entered  his  head,  Adam  sneezed,  and  said,  “Praise 
be  to  God.”  And  when  he  turned  his  head,  he  saw  Paradise 
and  all  its  delights  ;  and  when  the  soul  entered  his  belly,  he 
wanted  to  eat,  so  he  tried  to  rise  and  get  some  food,  but  the 
soul  had  not  yet  reached  his  extremities,  which  were  as  yet 
mere  clay,  so  Gabriel  said  :  “  O  Adam,  don’t  be  in  a  hurry.” 


ADAM. 


25 


Then  follows  the  story  of  Eblis  refusing  to  adore  Adam.  Ac¬ 
cording  to  another  version  of  the  Mussulman  story,  the  soul 
showed  such  repugnance  to  enter  the  body,  that  the  angel  Ga¬ 
briel  took  a  flageolet,  and  sitting  down  near  the  head  of  the 
inanimate  Adam,  played  such  exquisite  melodies  that  the  soul 
descended  to  listen,  and  in  a  moment  of  ecstasy  entered  the 
feet,  which  began  immediately  to  move.  Thereupon  the  soul 
was  given  command  by  Allah  not  to  leave  the  body  again  till 
special  permission  was  given  it  by  the  Most  High.1 

In  the  Talmud  we  are  told  that  the  Rabbi  Meir  says  that 
the  dust  from  which  Adam  was  made  was  gathered  from  all 
parts  of  the  earth  :  the  Rabbi  Hoshea  says  that  the  body  of 
the  first  man  was  made  of  dust  from  Babel  ;  the  head,  of  earth 
from  'the  land  of  Israel,  and  the  rest  of  his  limbs  from  the  soil 
of  other  countries  :  but  the  Rabbi  Acha  adds  that  his  hinder 
quarters  were  fashioned  out  of  clay  from  Acre.2  When  Adam 
was  made,  some  of  the  dust  remained  over  ;  of  that  God  made 
locusts.3 

A  Rabbinical  tale  is  to  this  effect.  God  was  interrupted  by 
the  Sabbath  in  the  midst  of  creating  fauns  and  satyrs,  after 
He  had  made  man,  and  was  obliged  to  postpone  their  comple¬ 
tion  till  the  Sunday,  consequently  these  creatures  are  misshap¬ 
en.  A  Talmudic  account  of  the  way  in  which  were  spent  the 
hours  of  the  day  in  which  Adam  was  made,  his  sufficiently 
curious. 

At  the  first  hour,  God  gathered  the  dust  of  the  earth  ;  in 
the  second,  He  formed  the  embryo  ;  in  the  third,  the  limbs 
were  extended  ;  in  the  fourth,  the  soul  was  given  ;  at  the  fifth 
hour  Adam  stood  upright;  at  the  sixth,  Adam  named  the  ani¬ 
mals.  Having  done  this,  God  asked  him,  “  And  I,  what  is  my 
name  ?  ” 

Adam  replied — “  Jehovah.” 

At  the  seventh  hour,  Adam  married  Eve  ;  at  the  eighth, 
Gain  and  his  sister  were  born  ;  at  the  ninth,  they  were  forbid¬ 
den  to  eat  of  the  tree  ;  at  the  tenth  hour  Adam  fell ;  at  the 
eleventh  he  was  banished  from  Eden  ;  and  at  the  twelfth,  he 
felt  the  sweat  and  pain  of  toil.4 

1  Colin  de  Plancy,  p.  55. 

2  Eisenmenger,  Neuentdecktes  Judenthum.  Konigsberg,  1711,1-  pp- 

364-5- 

3  Bochart,  Hierozoica,  p.  2,  1.  8,  fob  486. 

4  Tract  Sanhedrim,  f.  38. 


26 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


In  the  Apocryphal  Little  Genesis,  we  are  told  that  Adam 
did  not  disobey  God  till  the  expiration  of  the  seventh  year, 
and  that  he  was  not  punished  till  forty-five  days  after.  It  adds 
that  before  the  Fall,  Adam  conversed  familiarly  with  the  ani¬ 
mals,  but  that  by  the  Fall  they  lost  the  faculty  of  speech. 

God,  say  the  Rabbis,  made  Adam  so  tall  that  his  head 
touched  the  sky  ;  and  the  tree  of  life,  planted  in  the  midst  of 
the  garden  of  Eden,  was  so  broad  at  the  base  that  it  would 
take  a  good  walker  five  years  to  march  round  it,  and  Adam’s 
proportions  accorded  with  those  of  the  tree.  The  angels  mur¬ 
mured,  and  told  God  that  there  were  two  sovereigns,  one  in 
heaven  and  one  on  earth.  Thereupon  God  placed  his  haixl  on 
the  head  of  Adam  and  reduced  him  to  a  thouand  cubits.1 

To  the  question,  flow  big  was  Adam  ?  the  Talmud  replies, 
He  was  made  so  tall  that  he  stood  with  his  head  in  heaven, 
till  God  pressed  him  down  at  the  Fall.  Rabbi  Jehuda  says, 
that  as  he  lay  stretched  on  the  earth  he  covered  it  complete¬ 
ly  ;  2  but  the  book  Sepher  Gilgulim  says  (fob  20,  col.  4),  that 
when  he  was  made,  his  head  and  throat  were  in  Paradise,  and 
his  body  in  the  earth.  To  judge  how  long  he  was,  says  the 
same  book,  understand  that  his  body  stretched  from  one  end 
of  the  earth  to  the  other,  and  it  takes  a  man  five  hundred 
years  to  walk  that  distance.3  And  when  Adam  was  created, 
all  the  beasts  of  earth  fell  down  before  him  and  desired  to 
worship  him,  but  he  said  to  them,  “  You  have  come  to  wor¬ 
ship  me,  but  come  and  let  us  clothe  ourselves  with  power  and 
glory,  and  let  us  take  Him  to  be  king  over  us  who  has  created 
us  ;  for  a  people  chooses  a  king,  but  the  king  does  not  appoint  . 
himself  monarch  arbitrarily.”  Therefore  Adam  chose  God  to 
be  king  of  all  the  world,  and  the  beasts,  fowls,  and  fishes  glad¬ 
ly  consented  thereto.4  But  the  sun,  seeing  Adam,  was  filled 
with  fear  and  became  dark  ;  and  the  angels  quaked  and  were 
dismayed,  and  prayed  to  God  to  remove  from  them  this  mighty 
being  whom  He  had  made.  Then  God  cast  a  deep  sleep  on 
Adam,  and  the  sun  and  the  angels  looked  on  him  lying  help¬ 
less  in  his  slumber,  and  they  plucked  up  courage  and  feared 
him  no  more.  The  book  Sepher  Chasidim,  however,  says, 
that  the  angels  seeing  Adam  so  great  and  with  his  face  shining 
above  the  brightness  of  the  sun,  bowed  before  him,  and  said, 


1  Jalkut  Schimoni,  f.  6. 

3  Fisenmenger,  i.  p.  367. 


2  Tract  Hagida,  f.  12. 
4  Ibid.,  368. 


ADAM. 


«7 


1  Holy,  holy,  noly  !  ”  Whereupon  God  cast  a  sleep  upon  him 
and  cut  off  great  pieces  of  his  flesh  to  reduce  him  to  smaller 
proportions.  And  when  Adam  woke  he  saw  bits  of  flesh 
strewed  all  round  him,  like  shavings  in  a  carpenter’s  shop,  and 
he  exclaimed,  “  O  God  !  how  hast  Thou  robbed  me  ?  ”  but  God 
answered,  “  Take  these  gobbets  of  flesh  and  carry  them  into  all 
lands  and  drop  them  everywhere,  and  strew  dust  on  them ; 
and  wherever  they  are  laid,  that  land  will  I  give  to  thy  pos¬ 
terity  to  inherit.”1 

Many  are  the  origins  attributed  to  man  in  the  various  creeds 
of  ancient  and  modern  heathendom.  Sometimes  he  is  spoken 
of  as  having  been  made  out  of  water,  but  more  generally  it  is 
of  earth  that  he  has  been  made,  or  from  which  he  has  been 
spontaneously  born.  The  Peruvians  believed  that  the  world 
was  peopled  by  four  men  and  four  women,  brothers  and  sisters, 
who  emerged  from  the  caves  near  Cuzco.  Among  the  North 
American  Indians  the  earth  is  regarded  as  the  universal  mother. 
Men  came  into  existence  in  her  womb,  and  crept  out  of  it  by 
climbing  up  the  roots  of  the  trees  which  hung  from  the  vault 
in  which  they  were  conceived  and  matured ;  or,  mounting  a 
deer,  the  animal  brought  them  into  daylight ;  or,  groping  in 
darkness,  they  tore  their  way  out  with  their  nails.2 

The  Egyptian  philosophers  pretended  that  man  was  made 
of  the  mud  of  the  Nile.8  In  Aristophanes,4  man  is  spoken  of 
as  nXa6naT(x  Ttrjhov.  Among  some  of  the  Chinese  it  is  believed 
that  man  was  thus  formed : — “The  book  Fong-zen-tong  says: 
When  the  earth  and  heaven  were  made,  there  was  not  as  yet 
man  or  peoples  Then  Niu-hoa  moulded  yellow  earth,  and  of 
that  made  man.  That  is  the  true  origin  of  men.”4 

And  the  ancient  Chaldeans  supposed  man  was  made  by  the 
mixing  of  the  blood  of  Belus  with  the  soil.6 

2.  THE  PRE-ADAMITES. 

In  1655,  Isaac  de  la  Peyreira,  a  converted  Jew,  published 
a  curious  treatise  on  the  Pre-Adamites.  Arguing  upon  Ro- 

1  Weil,  Biblische  Legenden  der  Muselmanner.  Frankfort  1S45,  pp. 

12-16. 

*  Geiger,  Was  hat  Mohammed  aus  d.  Jvdenthum  aufgenomraen. 
p.  99. 

*  So  also  Abulfeda,  Hist.  Ante-Islamica,  ec..  Fleischer.  Lipsiae,  183 I 


28 


OLD  TES  TA  ME  NT  CHA  KA  C  TEES. 


mans  v.  12-14,  he  contended  that  there  were  two  creations 
of  man  ;  that  recorded  in  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  and  that 
described  in  the  second  chapter  being  distinct  The  first  race 
he  supposed  to  have  peopled  the  whole  world,  but  that  it  was 
bad,  and  therefore  Adam  had  been  created  with  a  spiritual 
soul,  and  that  from  Adam  the  Jewish  race  was  descended, 
whereas  the  Gentile  nations  issued  from  the  loins  of  the  Pre- 
Adamites.  Consequently  the  original  sin  of  Adam  weighed 
only  on  his  descendants,  and  Peyreira  supposed  that  it  was  his 
race  alone  which  perished,  with  the  exception  of  Noah  and 
his  family,  in  the  Deluge,  which  Peyreira  contends  was  partial. 
This  book  was  condemned  and  burnt  in  Paris  by  the  hands  of 
the  executioner,  and  the  author,  who  had  taken  refuge  in  Brus¬ 
sels,  was  there  condemned  by  the  ecclesiastical  authorities. 
He  appealed  to  Rome,  whither  he  journeyed,  and  he  was  re¬ 
ceived  with  favor  by  Alexander  VII.,  before  whom  he  abjured 
Calvinism,  which  he  had  professed. 

He  died  at  the  age  of  82,  at  Aubervilliers,  near  Paris,  and 
Moreri  wrote  the  following  epigrammatic  epitaph  for  him : — 

“  La  Peyrere  ici  git,  ee  bon  Israelite, 

Huguenot,  catholique,  enfin  pre-Adamite. 

Quatre  religions  lui  plurent  a  la  fois  ; 

Et  son  indifference  etait  si  peu  commune, 

Qu’apres  quatre-vingts  ans  qu’il  eut  a  faire  un  choix, 

Le  bon  homme  partit  et  n’en  choisit  aucune.” 

The  Oriental  book  Huschenk-Nameh  gives  a  fuller  history 
of  the  Pre-Adamites.  Before  Adam  was  created,  says  this 
book,  there  were  in  the  isle  Muscham,  one  of  the  Maldives,  men 
with  flat  heads,  and  for  this  reason  they  were  called  by  the 
Persians,  Nim-ser.  They  were  governed  by  a  king  named 
Dambac. 

When  Adam,  expelled  the  earthly  Paradise,  established  him¬ 
self  in  the  Isle  of  Ceylon,  the  flat-heads  submitted  to  him. 
After  his  death  they  guarded  his  tomb  by  day,  and  the  lions 
relieved  guard  by  night,  to  protect  his  body  against  the  Divs. 


ADAM. 


29 


III. 

EVE.1 

That  man  was  created  double,  i.  e.,  both  male  and  female, 
is  and  has  been  a  common  opinion.  One  Rabbinical  inter¬ 
pretation  of  the  text,  “  And  God  created  man  in  His  own 
image,  male-female  created  He  them,”  is  that  Adam  and  Eve 
were  formed  back  to  back,  united  at  the  shoulders,  and  were 
hewn  asunder  with  a  hatchet :  but  of  this  more  presently.  The 
Rabbis  say  that  when  Eve  had  to  be  drawn  out  of  the  side  of 
Adam  she  was  not  extracted  by  the  head,  lest  she  should  be 
vain  ;  nor  by  the  eyes,  lest  they  should  be  wanton  ;  nor  by  the 
mouth,  lest  she  should  be  given  to  gossiping;  nor  by  the 
ears,  lest  she  should  be  an  eavesdropper  ;  nor  by  the  hands, 
lest  she  should  be  meddlesome ;  nor  by  the  feet,  lest  she 
should  be  a  gadabout ;  nor  by  the  heart,  lest  she  should  be 
jealous  ;  but  she  was  drawn  forth  by  the  side  ;  yet,  notwith¬ 
standing  all  these  precautions,  she  has  every  fault  specially 
guarded  against.2 

'They  also  say  that,  for  the  marriage-feast  of  Adam  and 
Eve,  God  made  a  table  of  precious  stone,  and  each  gem  was 
a  hundred  ells  long  and  sixty  ells  wide,  and  the  table  was 
covered  with  costly  dishes.3 

The  Mussulman  tradition  is,  that  Adam  having  eaten  the 
bunch  of  grapes  given  him  as  a  reward  for  having  preached  to 
the  angels,  fell  asleep  ;  and  whilst  he  slept,  God  took  from  his 
left  side  a  woman  whom  He  called  Hava,  because  she  was 
extracted  from  one  living  (Hai),  and  He  laid  her  beside  Adam. 
She  resembled  him  exactly,  except  that  her  features  were  more 
delicate,  her  hair  longer  and  divided  into  seven  hundred  locks, 
her  form  more  slender,  her  eyes  softer,  and  her  voice  sweeter 
than  Adam’s.  In  the  mean  time  Adam  had  been  dreaming 

1  It  is  unfortunate  that  I  have  already  written  on  the  myths  relat¬ 
ing  to  the  formation  of  Eve  in  “  Curiosities  of  Olden  Times.”  I  would 
therefore  have  omitted  a  chapter  which  must  repeat  what  has  been  al¬ 
ready  published,  but  that  by  so  doing  I  should  leave  this  work  imperfect. 
However,  there  is  much  in  this  chapter  which  was  not  in  the  article  re¬ 
ferred  to. 

2  Rabboth,  fob  20  b. 


3  Eisenmenger,  i.  830. 


30 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


that  a  wife  had  been  given  to  him  ;  and  when  he  woke,  great 
was  his  delight  to  find  his  dream  turned  into  a  reality.  He 
put  forth  his  hand  to  take  that  of  Hava,  but  she  withdrew 
hers,  answering  his  words  of  love  with,  “  God  is  my  master, 
and  I  cannot  give  my  hand  to  thee  without  His  permission  ; 
and,  moreover,  it  is  not  proper  for  a  man  to  take  a  wife  with¬ 
out  making  her  a  wedding  present.” 

Adam  thereupon  sept  the  angel  Gabriel  to  ask  God’s  per¬ 
mission  to  take  to  him  Hava  as  his  wife.  Gabriel  returned 
with  the  answer  that  she  had  been  created  to  be  his  helpmate, 
and  that  he  was  to  treat  her  with  gentleness  and  love.  For  a 
present  he  must  pay  twenty  times  for  Mohammed  and  for 
the  prophets,  who,  in  due  season,  were  to  be  born  of  him. 
Ridhwan,  the  porter  of  Paradise,  then  brought  to  Adam  the 
winged  horse  Meimun,  and  to  Eve  a  light-footed  she-camel. 
Gabriel  helped  them  to  mount  and  led  them  into  Paradise, 
where  they  were  greeted  by  all  the  angels  and  beasts  with  the 
words  :  “  Hail,  father  and  mother  of  Mohammed  !  ” 

In  the  midst  of  Paradise  was  a  green  silk  tent  spread  for 
them,  supported  on  gold  pillars,  and  in  the  tent  was  a  throne 
upon  which  Adam  and  Hava  were  seated.  Then  they  were 
bathed  in  one  of  the  rivers  of  Paradise  and  brought  before  the 
presence  of  God,  who  bade  them  dwell  in  Paradise.  “  I  have 
prepared  you  this  garden  for  your  home ;  in  it  you  shall  be 
protected  from  cold  and  heat,  from  hunger  and  thirst.  Enjoy 
all  that  meets  your  eye,  only  of  one  fruit  taste  not.  Beware 
how  you  break  my  command,  and  arm  yourself  against  the 
subtlety  of  your  foe,  Eblis  ;  he  envies  you,  and  stands  by  you 
seeking  to  destroy  you,  for  through  you  was  he  cast  out.”1 

Tabari  says  that  Adam  was  brought  single  into  Paradise, 
through  which  he  roamed  eating  from  the  fruit  trees,  and  a  deep 
sleep  fell  upon  him,  during  which  Eve  was  created  from  his 
left  side.  And  when  Adam  opened  his  eyes,  he  saw  her,  and 
asked  her  who  she  was,  and  she  replied,  “  I  am  thy  wife  ;  God 
created  me  out  of  thee  and  for  thee,  that  thy  heart  might  find 
repose.”  Idle  angels  said  to  Adam  :  “  What  thing  is  this  ? 

What  is  her  name  ?  Why  is  she  made  ?  ”  Adam  replied, 
“  This  is  Eve.”  Adam  remained  five  hundred  years  in  Para¬ 
dise.  It  was  on  a  Friday  that  Adam  entered  Eden.2 

The  inhabitants  of  Madagascar  have  a  strange  myth  touch- 


1  Weil,  pp.  17,  18. 


2  Tabari,  i.  cxxxvi. 


EVE. 


31 


ing  the  origin  of  woman.  They  say  that  the  first  man  was 
created  of  the  dust  of  the  earth,  and  was  placed  in  a  garden, 
where  he  was  subject  to  none  of  the  ills  which  now  aiTect 
mortality ;  he  was  also  free  from  all  bodily  appetites,  and 
though  surrounded  by  delicious  fruit  and  limpid  streams,  yet 
felt  no  desire  to  taste  of  the  fruit  or  to  quaff  the  water.  The 
Creator  had,  moreover,  strictly  forbidden  him  either  to  eat  or 
to  drink.  The  great  enemy,  however,  came  to  him,  and 
painted  to  him  in  glowing  colors  the  sweetness  of  the  apple, 
the  lusciousness  of  the  date,  and  the  succulence  of  the  orange. 

In  vain :  the  first  man  remembered  the  command  laid  upon 
him  by  his  Maker.  Then  the  fiend  assumed  the  appearance 
of  an  effulgent  spirit,  and  pretended  to  be  a  messenger  from 
Heaven  commanding  him  to  eat  and  drink.  The  man  at  once 
obeyed.  Shortly  after,  a  pimple  appeared  on  his  leg ;  the 
spot  enlarged  to  a  tumor,  which  increased  in  size  and  caused 
him  considerable  annoyance.  At  the  end  of  six  months  it 
burst,  and  there  emerged  from  the  limb  a  beautiful  girl. 

The  father  of  all  living  was  sorely  perplexed  what  to  make 
of  his  acquisition,  when  a  messenger  from  heaven  appeared, 
and  told  him  to  let  her  run  about  the  garden  till  .she  was  of  a 
marriageable  age,  and  then  to  take  her  to  himself  as  his  wife. 
He  obeyed.  He  called  her  Bahouna,  and  she  became  the 
mother  of  all  races  of  men. 

The  notion  of  the  first  man  having  been  of  both  sexes  till 
the  separation,  was  very  common.  He  was  said  to  have  been 
male  on  the  right  side  and  female  on  the  left,  and  that  one  half 
of  him  was  removed  to  constitute  Eve,  but  that  the  complete 
man  consists  of  both  sexes. 

Eugubinus  among  Christian  commentators,  the  Rabbis 
Samuel,  Manasseh  Ben-Israel,  and  Maimonides  among  the 
Jews,  have  given  the  weight  of  their  opinion  to  support  this 
interpretation.  The  Rabbi  Jeremiah  Ben-Eleazer,  on  the  au¬ 
thority  of  the  text  “  Thou  hast  fashioned  me  behind  and  before  ” 
\Ps.  cxxxix.  4),  argued  that  Adam  had  two  faces,  one  male 
ind  the  other  female,  and  that  he  was  of  both  sexes.1 

The  Rabbi  Samuel  Ben-Nahaman  held  that  the  first  man 
was  created  double,  with  a  woman  at  his  ^ack,  and  that  God 
cut  them  apart*  “  Adam,”  said  other  Rabbis,  “  had  two  faces 


1  Talmud,  Tract  Berachoth,  f.  61  ;  Bartolocci  Bibl.  Rabbin.,  iv.  p.  66. 
*  Bartolocci,  Bibl.  Rabbin.,  iv.  p.  67. 


32 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


and  one  tail,  and  from  the  beginning  he  was  both  male  and  fe¬ 
male,  male  on  one  side,  female  on  the  other ;  but  afterwards 
the  parts  were  separated.”  1 

The  Talmudists  assert  that  God  cut  off  Adam’s  tail  and 
thereof  formed  Eve.2 

With  this  latter  fable  agrees  the  ludicrous  myth  of  the  Kik- 
apoo  Indians,  related  in  my  “  Curiosities  of  Olden  Times.” 

In  Aristophanes’  speech  in  the  Sytnposium  of  Plato,  a 
myth  is  given,  that  in  the  beginning  there  was  a  race  of  men 
of  which  every  member  was  double,  having  two  heads,  four 
legs  and  four  arms,  and  each  of  both  sexes.  This  race,  says 
he,  was  filled  with  pride,  and  it  attempted  to  scale  heaven. 
The  Gods  desired  at  once  to  reduce  their  might  and  punish 
their  temerity,  but  did  not  wish  to  destroy  the  human  race ; 
consequently  at  the  advice  of  Zeus,  each  androgyne  .was  hewn 
asunder,  so  as  to  leave  to  each  half  two  arms  and  a  pair  of 
legs,  one  head  and  a  single  sex. 

An  Indian  tradition  is  to  this  effect.  Whilst  Brahma  the 
creator  was  engaged  in  the  production  of  beings,  he  saw  Kava 
(body)  divide  itself  into  two  parts,  of  which  each  part  was  of  a 
different  sex,  and  thence  sprang  the  whole  human  race.3 4 

According  to  another  much  more  explicit  version,  Viradi, 
the  first  man,  finding  his  solitude  intolerable,  fell  into  the 
deepest  sorrow  ;  and  yearning  for  a  companion,  his  nature  de¬ 
veloped  into  two  sexes  united  in  one.  Then  he  separated 
into  two  individuals,  but  found  in  that  separation  unhappiness, 
for  he  was  conscious  of  his  imperfection  ;  then  he  reunited 
the  existence  of  the  two  portions  and  was  happy,  and  from 
that  reunion  the  world  was  peopled/ 

In  Persia,  Meschia  and  Meschiane,  the  first  man  and 
the  first  woman,  were  said  to  have  formed  originally  but  one 
body ;  but  they  were  cut  apart,  and  from  this  voluntary 
reunion  all  men  are  sprung.5 

The  idea  so  prevalent  that  man  without  woman,  or  woman 
without  man,  is  an  imperfect  being,  was  the  cause  of  the  great 
repugnance  with  which  the  Jews  and  other  nations  of  the  East 
regarded  celibacy.  The  Rabbi  Eliezer,  commenting  on  the 
text  “  lie  called  their  name  Adam  ”  (Gen.  v.  2),  laid  down 

1  Bartolocci,  Bibl.  Rabbin.,  iii.  p.  695. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  396  ;  Eisenmenger,  t.  i.  p.  365. 

3  Bhagavat,  iii.  12,  51. 

4  Colebrooke,  Miscell.  Essays,  p.  i.  64. 


5  Bundehesch.  p.  377. 


EVE. 


33 

that  he  who  has  not  a  wife  is  not  man,  for  a  man  is  the  recom¬ 
position  of  male  and  female  into  one.1 

Bramah,  says  an  Indian  legend,  being  charged  with  the 
production  of  the  human  race,  felt  himself  a  prey  to  violent 
pains,  till  his  sides  opened,  and  from  one  flank  emerged  a  boy 
and  from  the  other  a  girl.  In  China,  the  story  is  told  that  the 
Goddess  Amida  sweated  male  children  out  of  her  right  arm- 
pit,  and  female  children  from  her  left  arm-pit,  and  these  chil¬ 
dren  peopled  the  earth.2 

Vishnu,  according  to  an  Indian  fable,  gave  birth  to  Dharma 
by  his  right  side,  and  to  Adharma  by  his  left  side,  and  through 
Adharma  death  entered  the  world.3  Another  story  is  to  the 
effect,  that  the  right  arm  of  Vena  gave  birth  to  Pritu,  the  mas¬ 
ter  of  the  earth,  and  the  left  arm  to  the  Virgin  Archis,  who 
became  the  bride  of  Pritu.4 

Pygmalion,  says  the  classic  story,  which  is  really  a  Phoe¬ 
nician  myth  of  creation,  made  woman  of  marble  ordvory,  and 
Aphrodite,  in  answer  to  his  prayers,  endowed  the  statue  with 
life.  “Often  does  Pygmalion  apply  his  hands  to  the  work. 
One  while  he  addresses  it  in  soft  terms,  at  another  he  brings 
it  presents  that  are  agreeable  to  maidens,  as  shells  and  smooth 
pebbles,  and  little  birds,  and  flowers  of  a  thousand  hues,  and 
lilies,  and  painted  basils,  and  tears  of  the  Heliades,  that  have 
distilled  from  the  trees.  He  decks  her  limbs,  too,  with  cloth¬ 
ing,  and  puts  a  long  necklace  on  her  neck.  Smooth  pendants 
hang  from  her  ears,  and  bows  from  her  breast.  All  things 
are  becoming  to  her.”  5 

But  Plesiod  gives  a  widely  different  account  of  the  creation 
of  woman.  According  to  him,  she  was  sent  in  mockery  by 
Zeus  to  be  a  scourge  to  man  : — 

“  The  Sire  who  rules  the  earth  and  sways  the  pole 
Had  spoken  :  laughter  filled  his  secret  soul : 

He  bade  the  crippled  god  his  best  obey, 

And  mould  with  tempering  water  plastic  clay  ; 

With  human  nerve  and  human  voice  invest 
The  limbs  elastic,  and  the  breathing  breast ; 

Fair  as  the  blooming  goddesses  above, 

A  virgin  likeness  with  the  looks  of  love, 
lie  bade  Minerva  teach  the  skill  that  sheds 
A  thousand  colors  in  the  glittering  threads; 

1  Bartolocci,  Bibl.  Rabbin.,  iv.  p.  463. 

2  Mendez  Pinto,  Voyages,  ii.  p.  178.  3  Bhagavat,  iii.  12,  25. 

4  Ibid.,  iv.  15,  27.  5  Ovid,  Metamorph.,  x.  7. 


34 


OLD  TES LAMENT  CL/A  RA  C TERS. 


He  called  the  magic  of  love’s  golden  queen 
To  breathe  around  a  witchery  of  mien, 

And  eager  passion’s  never-sated  flame 
And  cares  of  dress  that  prey  upon  the  frame ; 

Bade  Hermes  last  endue,  with  craft  refined 
Of  treacherous  manners,  and  a  shameless  mind.”  1 

That  Eve  was  Adam’s  second  wife  was  a  common  Rabbin¬ 
ic  speculation  ;  certain  of  the  commentators  on  Genesis  hav¬ 
ing  adopted  this  view  to  account  for  the  double  account  of  the 
creation  of  woman  in  the  sacred  text, — first  in  Genesis  i.  27, 
and  secondly  in  Genesis  ii.  18  ;  and  they  say  that  Adam’s 
first  wife  was  named  Lilith,  but  she  was  expelled  from  Eden, 
and  after  her  expulsion  Eve  was  created. 

Abraham  Ecchellensis  gives  the  following  account  of  Lilith, 
and  her  doings  : — “  There  are  some  who  do  not  regard  spec¬ 
tres  as  simple  devils,  but  suppose  them  to  be  of  a  mixed  na¬ 
ture,  part  demoniacal,  part  human,  and  to  have  had  their  ori¬ 
gin  from  Lilith,  Adam’s  first  wife,  by  Eblis,  the  prince  of  the 
devils.  This  fable  has  been  transmitted  to  the  Arabs  from 
Jewish  sources,  by  some  converts  of  Mahomet  from  Cabbal¬ 
ism  and  Rabbinism,  who  have  transferred  all  the  Jewish  fool¬ 
eries  to  the  Arabs.  They  gave  to  Adam  a  wife,  formed  of 
clay,  along  with  Adam,  and  called  her  Lilith  ;  resting  on  the 
Scripture,  ‘  male  and  female  created  He  them  :  ’ 2  but  when  this 
woman,  on  account  of  her  simultaneous  creation  with  him,  be¬ 
came  proud  and  a  vexation  to  her  husband,  God  expelled  her 
from  Paradise,  and  then  said,  ‘  It  is  not  good  that  the  man  should 
be  alone  ;  I  will  make  him  a  help  meet  for  him  l 3  And  this  they 
confirm  by  the  words  of  Adam  when  he  saw  the  woman  fash¬ 
ioned  from  his  rib,  ‘  This  is  now  bone  of  my  bone  and  flesh  of 
my  flesh]  4  which  is  as  much  as  to  say,  Now  God  has  given 
me  a  wife  and  companion,  suitable  to  me,  taken  from  my 
bone  and  flesh,  but  the  other  wife  he  gave  me  was  not  of  my 
bone  and  flesh,  and  therefore  was  not  a  suitable  companion 
and  wife  for  me. 

“But  Lilith,  after  she  was  expelled  from  Paradise,  is  said 
to  have  married  the  Devil,  by  whom  she  had  children,  who 
are  called  Jins.  These  were  endued  with  six  qualities,  of  which 
they  share  three  with  men,  and  three  with  devils.  Like  men, 
they  generate  in  their  own  likeness,  eat  food,  and  die.  Like 

1  Hesiod,  Works  and  Days,  61-79. 

3  Gen.  i.  27.  3  Ibid.,  ii.  iS.  4  Ibid.,  23. 


EVE. 


35 


devils,  they  are  winged,  and  they  fly  where  they  list  with  great 
velocity ;  they  are  invisible,  and  they  can  pass  through  solid 
substances  without  injuring  them.  This  race  of  Jins  is  sup¬ 
posed  to  be  less  noxious  to  men,  and  indeed  to  live  in  some 
familiarity  and  friendship  with  them,  as  in  part  sharers  of  their 
nature.  The  author  of  the  history  and  acts  of  Alexander  of 
Macedon  relates,  that  in  a  certain  region  of  India,  on  certain 
hours  of  the  day,  the  young  Jins  assume  a  human  form,  and 
appear  openly  and  play  games  with  the  native  children  of  hu¬ 
man  parents  quite  familiarly.”  1 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  women,  as  they  are  now,  are 
at  all  comparable  to  Eve  in  her  pristine  beauty  ;  on  this  point 
the  Talmud  says  :  “  All  women  in  respect  of  Sarah  are  like 
monkeys  in  respect  of  men.  But  Sarah  can  no  more  be  con- 
pared  to  Eve  than  can  a  monkey  be  compared  with  a  man.  In 
like  manner  it  may  be  said,  if  any  comparison  could  be  drawn 
between  Eve  and  Adam,  she  stood  to  him  in  the  same  relation 
of  beauty  as  does  a  monkey  to  a  man  ;  but  if  you  were  to  com¬ 
pare  Adam  with  God,  Adam  would  be  the  monkey,  and  God 
the  man.”  2 

Literary  ladies  may  point  to  the  primal  mother  as  the  first 
authoress ;  for  a  Gospel  of  Eve  existed  in  the  times  of  S. 
Epiphanius,  who  mentions  it  as  being  in  repute  among  the 
Gnostics.3  And  the  Mussulmans  attribute  to  her  a  volume  of 
Prophecies  which  were  written  at  her  dictation  by  the  Angel 
Raphael.4 

All  ladies  will  be  glad* to  learn  that  there  is  a  tradition, 
Manichean,  it  is  true,  and  anathematized  by  S.  Clement,  which 
nevertheless  contains  a  large  element  of  truth  ;  it  is  to  this  ef¬ 
fect,  that  Adam,  when  made,  was  like  a  beast,  coarse,  rude, 
and  inanimate,  but  that  from  Eve  he  received  his  upright 
position,  his  polish,  and  his  spirituality. 5 

1  Abraham  Ecchellensis,  Hist.  Arabum,  p.  268. 

2  Talmud,  Tract.  Bava  Bathra.  3  S.  Epiphan.  Hasres.,  xxvi. 

4  Tho.  Bangius,  Coelum  Orientis,  p.  103. 

5  S.  Clemen ti  Recog.,  c.  iv. 


<*•  1* 


/ 


36 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS . 


IV. 

THE  FALL  OF  MAN. 

What  was  the  tree  of  which  our  first  parents  were  forbid¬ 
den  to  eat  ?  In  Midrash,  f.  7,  the  Rabbi  Mayer  says  it  was  a 
wheat-tree  ;  the  Rabbi  Jehuda,  that  it  was  a  grape-vine ;  the 
Rabbi  Aba,  that  it  was  a  Paradise-apple  ;  the  Rabbi  Josse, 
that  it  was  a  fig-tree :  therefore  it  was  that,  when  driven  out 
of  Paradise,  they  used  its  leaves  for  a  covering. 

The  Persian  story,  adopted  by  the  Arabs,  is  that  the  for¬ 
bidden  fruit  was  wheat,  and  that  it  grew  on  a  tree  whose  trunk 
resembled  gold  and  its  branches  silver.  Each  branch  bore 
five  shining  ears,  and  each  ear  contained  five  grains  as  big  as 
the  eggs  of  an  ostrich,  as  fragrant  as  musk,  and  as  sweet  as 
honey.  The  people  of  South  America  suppose  it  was  the 
banana,  whose  fibres  form  the  cross,  and  they  say  that  thus,  in 
it,  Adam  discovered  the  mystery  of  the  Redemption.  The  in¬ 
habitants  of  the  island  of  St.  Vincent  think  it  was  the  tobacco 
plant.  But,  according  to  an  Iroquois  legend,  the  great  mother 
of  the  human  race  lost  heaven  for  a  pot  of  bears’  grease.1 
The  story  is  as  follows  : — The  first  men  living  alone  were, 

“  By  the  viewless  winds,  - 
Blown  with  resistless  violence  round  about 
The  pendent  world.” 

Fearing  the  extinction  of  their  race,  and  having  learnt  that  a 
woman  dwelt  somewhere  in  the  heavens,  they  deputed  one  of 
their  number  to  seek  her  out.  This  messenger  of  mankind 
was  borne  to  the  skies  on  the  wings  of  assembled  birds  ;  and 
then  watched  at  the  foot  of  a  tree  till  the  woman  came  forth 
to  draw  water  from  a  neighboring  well.  On  her  approach  he 
addressed  her,  offered  her  bears’  fat,  and  then  seduced  her. 
The  Deity,  perceiving  her  shame,  in  his  anger  thrust  her 
out  of  heaven.  The  tortoise  received  her  on  his  back;  and 
from  the  depths  of  the  sea  the  fish  brought  clay,  and  thus 
gradually  built  up  an  island  on  which  the  universal  mother 
brought  forth  her  first  twins. 


1  Lafitau,  Mceurs  des  Sauvages  Ameriquaines,  i.  p.  93. 


THE  FALL  OF  MAN. 


37 


According  to  the  traditions  of  the  Lamaic  faith,  the  first 
men  lived  to  the  age  of  sixty  thousand  years.1  They  were  in¬ 
visibly  nourished,  and  were  able  to  raise  themselves  at  will 
to  the  heavens.  In  this  age  of  the  world  the  transmigration  of 
souls  was  universal, — all  men  were  twice  born  ;  and  in  this  age 
it  was  that  the  thousand  gods  settled  themselves  in  heaven.  In 
an  unlucky  hour  the  earth  produced  a  honey-sweet  substance  : 
one  of  the  men  lusted  after  it,  tasted  and  gave  to  his  com¬ 
panions  ;  the  consequence  was,  that  the  men  lost  the  power  of 
rising  from  off  the  earth,  their  size,  and  their  wisdom,  and  were 
obliged  to  satisfy  themselves  with  food  produced  by  the  soil. 

The  Nepaul  account  of  the  beginning  of  sin  is  as  follows  : 
“  Originally,”  says  one  of  the  Tantras,  “  the  earth  was  unin¬ 
habited.  In  those  times  the  inhabitants  of  Abhaswara,  one  of 
the  heavenly  mansions,  used  frequently  to  visit  the  earth,  and 
thence  speedily  return.  It  happened  at  length  that  when  a 
few  of  these  beings,  who  though  half  male,  half  female,  through 
the  innocence  of  their  minds  had  never  noticed  their  distinc¬ 
tion  of  sex,  came  as  usual  to  the  earth,  Adi  Buddha  suddenly 
created  in  them  so  violent  a  longing  to  eat,  that  they  ate  some 
of  the  earth,  which  had  the  taste  of  almonds  ;  and  by  eating 
it  they  lost  their  power  of  flying  back  to  heaven,  and  so  they 
remained  on  the  earth.  They  were  now  constrained  to  eat 
the  fruits  of  the  earth  for  sustenance.”  2 

According  to  the  Cinghalese,  the  Brahmas  inhabited  the 
higher  regions  of  the  air,  where  they  enjoyed  perfect  happiness. 
“  But  it  came  to  pass  that  one  of  them  beholding  the  earth  said 
to  himself,  What  thing  is  this  ?  and  with  one  of  his  fingers 
having  touched  the  earth,  he  put  it  to  the  tip  of  his  tongue,  and 
perceived  the  same  to  be  deliciously  sweet ;  from  that  time  all 
the  Brahmas  ate  of  the  sweet  earth  for  the  space  of  sixty  thou¬ 
sand  years.  In  the  mean  time,  having  coveted  in  their  hearts 
the  enjoyment  of  this  earth,  they  began  to  say  to  one  another, 
This  part  is  mine  and  that  is  thine  ;  and  so  fixing  boundaries 
to  their  respective  shares,  divided  the  earth  between  them.  On 
account  of  the  Brahmas  having  been  guilty  of  covetousness, 
the  earth  lost  its  sweetness,  and  then  brought  forth  a  kind  of 
mushroom,”  which  the  Brahmas  also  coveted  and  divided,  and 
of  which  they  were  also  deprived;  and  thus  they  proceeded 
from  food  to  food,  till  their  nature  was  changed,  and  from 


1  Pallas  Reise,  i.  p.  33  4. 


2  Hodgson,  Buddhism,  p.  63. 


3S  OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 

spirits  they  became  men,  imbibed  wicked  ideas,  and  lost  their 
ancient  glory.1 

According  to  the  Chinese,  man  is  part  spirit,  part  animal 
The  spirit  follows  the  laws  of  Heaven,  as  a  disciple  his  master , 
the  animal,  on  the  other  hand,  is  the  slave  of  sense.  At  his 
origin,  man  obeyed  the  heavens  ;  his  first  state  was  one  of  in¬ 
nocence  and  happiness ;  he  knew  neither  disease  nor  death ;  he 
was  by  instinct  wholly  good  and  spiritual.  But  the  immoder¬ 
ate  desire  to  be  wise,  or,  according  to  Lao-tsee,  to  eat,  was  the 
ruin  of  mankind.2 

According  to  the  Persian  faith,  the  father  of  man  had  heav¬ 
en  for  his  destiny,  but  he  must  be  humble  of  heart,  pure  of 
thought,  of  word  and  of  deed,  not  invoking  the  Divs  :  and  such 
in  the  beginning  were  the  thoughts  and  acts  of  our  first  parents. 

First  they  said,  “  it  is  Ormuzd  (God)  who  has  given  the 
water,  the  earth,  the  trees,  and  the  beasts  of  the  field,  and  the 
stars,  the  moon,  the  sun,  and  all  things  pure.”  But  Ahriman 
(Satan)  arose,  and  rushed  upon  their  thoughts  and  said  to  them, 
“  It  is  Ahriman  who  has  given  these  things  to  you.”  Thus 
Ahriman  deceived  them,  and  to  the  end  will  deceive.  To  this 
lie  they  gave  credence  and  became  Darvands,  and  their  souls 
were  condemned  till  the  great  resurrection  of  the  body.  Dur¬ 
ing  thirty  days  they  feasted  and  covered  themselves  with  black 
garments.  After  thirty  days  they  went  to  the  chase  ;  and  they 
found  a  white  goat,  and  with  their  lips  they  drew  off"  her  milk, 
and  drank  her  milk  and  were  glad.  “  We  have  tasted  nothing 
like  to  this  milk,”  said  our  first  parents,  Meschia  and  Meschiane ; 
“  the  milk  we  have  drunk  was  pleasant  to  the  taste,”  but  it  was 
an  evil  thing  to  their  bodies. 

“  Then  the  Div,  the  liar,  grown  more  bold,  presented  him¬ 
self  a  second  time,  and  brought  with  him  fruit  of  which  they 
ate  ;  and  of  a  hundred  excellences  they  before  possessed,  they 
now  retained  not  one.  And  after  thirty  days  and  nights  they 
found  a  white  and  fat  sheep,  and  they  cut  off  its  left  ear ;  and 
they  fired  a  tree,  and  with  their  breath  raised  the  fire  to  a  flame  ; 
and  they  burned  part  of  the  branches  of  that  tree,  then  of  the 
tree  khorma,  and  afterwards  of  the  myrtle  ;  and  they  roasted 
the  sheep,  and  divided  it  into  three  portions  :  and  of  the  two 

1  Upliam,  Sacred  Books  of  Ceylon,  iii.  156. 

*  Memoires  Chinois,  i.  p.  107. 


THE  FALL  OF  MAN. 


39 

which  they  did  not  eat,  one  was  carried  to  heaven  by  the  bird 
Kehrkas 

“  Afterwards  they  feasted  on  the  flesh  of  a  dog,  and  they 
clothed  themselves  in  its  skin.  They  gave  themselves  up  to 
the  chase,  and  with  the  furs  of  wild  beasts  they  covered  their 
bodies. 

“  And  Meschia.  and  Meschiane  digged  a  hole  in  the  earth 
and  they  found  iron  and  the  iron  they  beat  with  a  stone  ;  and 
they  made  for  themselves  an  axe,  and  they  struck  at  the  roots 
of  a  tree,  and  they  felled  the  tree  and  arranged  its  branches 
into  a  hut ;  and  to  God  they  gave  no  thanks ;  and  the  Divs 
took  heart. 

“  And  Meschia  and  Meschiane  became  enemies,  and  struck 
and  wounded  each  other  and  separated  ;  then  from  out  of  the 
place  of  darkness  the  chief  of  the  Divs  was  heard  to  cry  aloud  : 
O  man,  worship  the  Divs  !  And  the  Div  of  hate  sat  upon 
his  throne.  And  Meschia  approached  and  drew  milk  from 
the  bull,  and  sprinkled  it  towards  the  north,  and  the  Divs  be¬ 
came  strong.  But  during  fifty  winters,  Meschia  and  Meschiane 
lived  apart ;  and  after  that  time,  they  met  and  Meschiane 
bare  twins.”  1 

The  story  told  by  the  Mussulmans  is  as  follows  : — 

Adam  and  Eve  lived  for  five  hundred  years  in  Paradise 
before  they  ate  of  the  tree  and  fell ;  for  Eblis  was  outside,  and 
could  not  enter  the  gates  to  deceive  them. 

For  five  hundred  years  Eblis  sought  admission,  but  the 
angel  Ridhwan  warned  him  off  with  his  flaming  sword. 

One  day  the  peacock  came  through  the  gates  of  Paradise. 
This  bird,  with  the  feathers  of  emeralds  and  pearls,  was  not 
only  the  most  beautiful  creature  God  had  made,  but  it  had 
also  been  endowed  with  a  sweet  and  clear  voice,  wherewith 
it  daily  sang  the  praises  of  God  in  the  highways  of  Eden. 

This  beautiful  bird,  thought  Eblis,  when  he  saw  it,  is 
surely  vain,  and  will  listen  to  the  voice  of  flattery. 

Thereupon  he  addressed  it  as  a  stranger,  beyond  the  hear¬ 
ing  of  Ridhwan.  “  Most  beautiful  of  all  birds,  do  you  belong 
to  the  denizens  of  Paradise  ?  ” 

“  Certainly,”  answered  the  peacock.  “  And  who  are  you 
who  look  from  side  to  side  in  fear  and  trembling  ?  ” 

1  Bundchesch  in  Windischmann  :  Zoroastrische  Studien.  Berlin, 
1863,  p.  82  ;  and  tr,  A.  du  Perron,  ii.  pp.  77-80. 


40 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


“  I  belong  to  the  Cherubim  who  praise  God  night  and 
day,  and  I  have  slipped  out  of  their  ranks  without  being 
observed,  that  I  might  take  a  glimpse  of  the  Paradise,  God 
has  prepared  for  the  saints.  Will  you  hide  me  under  your 
feathers,  and  show  me  the  garden  ?  ” 

“  How  shall  I  do  that  which  may  draw  down  on  me  God’s 
disfavor  ?  ”  asked  the  peacock. 

“  Magnificent  creature  !  take  me  with  you.  I  will  teach 
you  three  words  which  will  save  you  from  sickness,  old  age, 
and  death.” 

“  Must  then  the  dwellers  in  Paradise  die  ?  ” 

“  All,  without  exception,  who  know  not  these  three  words.” 

“  Is  this  the  truth  ?  ” 

“  By  God  the  Almighty  it  is  so.” 

The  peacock  believed  the  oath,  for  it  could  not  suppose 
that  a  creature  would  swear  a  false  oath  by  its  Creator.  But, 
as  it  feared  thatRidhwan  would  search  it  on  its  return  through 
the  gates,  it  hesitated  to  take  Eblis  with  it,  but  promised  to 
send  the  cunning  serpent  out,  who  would  certainly  devise  a 
means  of  introducing  Eblis  into  the  garden. 

Pdie  serpent  was  formerly  queen  of  all  creatures.  She  had 
a  head  like  rubies,  and  eyes  like  emeralds.  Her  height  was 
that  of  a  camel,  and  the  most  beautiful  colors  adorned  her 
skin,  and  her  hair  and  face  were  those  of  a  beautiful  maiden. 
She  was  fragrant  as  musk  and  amber  ;  her  food  was  saffron  ; 
sweet  hymns  of  praise  were  uttered  by  her  melodious  tongues  ; 
she  slept  by  the  waters  of  the  heavenly  river  Kaulhar  ;  she 
had  been  created  a  thousand  years  before  man,  and  was  Eve’s 
favorite  companion. 

This  beautiful  and  wise  creature,  thought  the  peacock, 
will  desire  more  even  than  myself  to  possess  perpetual  youth 
and  health,  and  will  gladly  admit  the  cherub  for  the  sake 
of  hearing  the  three  words.  The  bird  was  not  mistaken  ;  as 
soon  as  it  had  told  the  story,  the  serpent  exclaimed  :  “  What  ! 
shall  I  grow  old  and  die  ?  Shall  my  beautiful  face  become 
wrinkled,  my  eyes  close,  and  my  body  dissolve  into  dust  ? 
Never  !  rather  will  I  brave  Ridhwan’s  anger  and  introduce 
the  cherub.” 

The  serpent  accordingly  glided  out  of  the  gates  of  Paradise, 
and  bade  Eblis  tell  her  what  he  had  told  the  peacock. 

“  How  shall  I  bring  you  unobserved  into  Paradise  ?  ” 
asked  the  serpent. 


TLLE  FALL  OF  MAN. 


41 


“  I  will  make  myself  so  small  that  I  can  sit  in  the  nick  be¬ 
tween  your  front  teeth,”  answered  the  fallen  angel.1 

“  But  how  then  can  I  answer  when  Ridhwan  addresses 
me  ?  ” 

“  Fear  not.  I  will  whisper  holy  names,  at  which  Ridhwan 
will  keep  silence.” 

The  serpent  thereupon  opened  her  mouth,  Eblis  flew  in 
and  seated  himself  between  her  teeth,  and  by  so  doing  poi¬ 
soned  them  for  all  eternity. 

When  she  had  passed  Ridhwan  in  security,  the  serpent 
opened  her  mouth  and  asked  Eblis  to  take  her  with  him  to 
the  highest  heaven,  where  she  might  behold  the  majesty  of 
God. 

Eblis  answered  that  he  was  not  ready  to  leave  yet,  but  that 
he  desired  to  speak  to  Adam  out  of  her  mouth,  and  to  this  she 
consented,  fearing  Ridhwan,  and  greatly  desiring  to  hear  and 
learn  the  three  salutary. words.  Having  reached  Eve’s  tent, 
Eblis  uttered  a  deep  sigh — it  was  the  first  that  had  been  heard 
in  Eden,  and  it  was  caused  by  envy. 

“  Why  are  you  so  disquieted,  gentle  serpent  ?  ”  asked  Eve. 

“  I  am  troubled  for  Adam’s  future,”  answered  the  evil 
spirit,  affecting  the  voice  of  the  serpent. 

“  What !  have  we  not  all  that  can  be  desired  in  this  garden 
of  God  ?  ”  . 

“  That  is  true  ;  but  the  noblest  fruit  of  the  garden,  the  only 
one  securing  to  you  perfect  happiness,  is  denied  to  your  lips.” 

“  Have  we  not  abundance  of  fruit-of  every  color  and  flavor 
— only  one  is  forbidden  ?  ”  , 

“  And  if  you  knew  why  that  one  is  forbidden,  you  would 
find  little  pleasure  in  tasting  the  others.” 

“  Do  you  know  ?  ” 

“  I  do,  and  for  that  reason  am  I  so  cast  down.  This  fruit 
alone  gives  eternal  youth  and  health,  whereas  all  the  others 
give  weakness,  disease,  old  age  and  death,  which  is  the 
cessation  of  life  with  all  its  joys.” 

“  Why,  dearest  serpent,  did  you  never  tell  me  this  before  ? 
Whence  know  you  these  things  ?  ” 

“  An  angel  told  me  this  as  I  lay  under  the  forbidden  tree.” 

“  I  must  also  see  him,”  said  Eve,  leaving  her  tent  and  going 
towards  the  tree. 


1  So  also  Abulfeda,  Hist.  Ante-Islamica,  p.  13. 


4* 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


At  this  moment  Eblis  flew  out  of  the  serpent’s  mouth,  and 
stood  in  human  form  beneath  the  tree. 

“  Who  art  thou,  wondrous  being,  the  like  of  whom  I  have 
not  seen  before  ?  ”  asked  Eve. 

“  I  am  a  man  who  have  become  an  angel.” 

“  And  how  didst  thou  become  an  angel  ?  ” 

“  By  eating  of  this  fruit,”  answered  the  tempter, — “  this  fruit 
which  is  denied  us  through  the  envy  of  God.  I  dared  to  break 
His  command  as  I  grew  old  and  feeble,  and  my  eyes  waxed 
dim,  my  ears  dull,  and  my  teeth  fell  out,  so  that  I  could  neither 
speak  plainly  nor  enjoy  my  food ;  my  hands  shook,  my  feet 
tottered,  my  head  was  bent  upon  my  breast,  my  back  was  bow¬ 
ed,  and  I  became  so  hideous  that  all  the  beasts  of  the  garden 
fled  from  me  in  fear.  Then  I  sighed  for  death,  and  hoping  to 
find  it  in  the  fruit  of  this  tree,  I  ate,  and  lo !  instantly  I  was 
young  again  ;  though  a  thousand  years  had  elapsed  since  I  was 
made,  they  had  fled  with  all  their  traces,  and  I  enjoy  perpetu¬ 
al  health  and  youth  and  beauty.” 

“  Do  you  speak  the  truth  ?  ”  asked  Eve. 

“  I  swear  by  God  who  made  me.” 

Eve  believed  this  oath,  and  broke  a  branch  from  the 
wheat-tree. 

Before  the  Fall,  wheat  grew  to  a  tree  with  leaves  like  emer¬ 
alds.  The  ears  were  red  as  rubies  and  the  grains  white  as 
snow,  sweet  as  honey,  and  fragrant  as  musk.  Eve  ate  one  of 
the  grains  and  found  it  more  delicious  than  any  thing  she  had 
hitherto  tasted,  so  she  gave  a  second  grain  to  Adam.  Adam 
resisted  at  first,  according  to  some  authorities  for  a  whole  hour, 
but  an  hour  in  Paradise  was  eighty  years  of  our  earthly  reckon¬ 
ing.  But  when  he  saw  that  Eve  remained  well  and  cheerful, 
he  yielded  to  her  persuasions,  and  ate  of  the  second  grain 
which  Eve  had  offered  him  daily,  three  times  a  day,  during  the 
hour  of  eighty  years.  Thereupon  all  Adam’s  heaven-given 
raiment  fell  from  him,  his  crown  slipped  off  his  head,  his  rings 
dropped  from  his  fingers,  his  silken  garments  glided  like  water 
fiom  his  shoulders,  and  he  and  Eve  were  naked  and  unadorned, 
and  their  fallen  garments  reproached  them  with  the  words, 
“  Great  is  your  misfortune ;  long  will  be  your  sorrows ;  we 
were  created  to  adorn  those  who  serve  God ;  farewell  till  the 
resurrection !  ” 

The  throne  recoiled  from  them  and  exclaimed,  “  Depart 
from  me,  ve  disobedient  ones !  ”  The  horse  Meimun,  which 


THE  FALL  OF  MAN . 


43 


Adam  sought  to  mount,  plunged  and  refused  to  allow  him  to 
touch  it,  saying,  “  How  hast  thou  kept  God’s  covenant  ?  ”  All 
the  inhabitants  of  Paradise  turned  their  backs  on  the  pair,  and 
prayed  God  to  remove  the  man  and  the  woman  from  the  midst 
of  them. 

God  himself  addressed  Adam  with  a  voice  of  thunder,  say¬ 
ing,  “  Did  not  I  forbid  thee  to  touch  of  this  fruit,  and  caution 
thee  against  the  subtlety  of  thy  foe,  Eblis?”  Adam  and  Eve 
tried  to  fly  these  reproaches,  but  the  branches  of  the  tree  Talh 
caught  Adam,  and  Eve  entangled  herself  in  her  long  hair. 

“  From  the  wrath  of  God  there  is  no  escape,”  cried  a  voice 
from  the  tree  Talh  ;  “obey  the  commandment  of  God.” 

“  Depart  from  Paradise,”  then  spake  God,  “  thou  Adam, 
thy  wife,  and  the  animals  which  led  you  into  sin.  The  earth 
shall  be  your  abode  ;  in  the  sweat  of  thy  brow  shalt  thou  find 
food ;  the  produce  of  earth  shall  cause  envy  and  contention ; 
Eve  (Hava)  shall  be  afflicted  with  a  variety  of  strange  affec¬ 
tions,  and  shall  bring  forth  offspring  in  pain.  The  peacock 
shall  lose  its  melodious  voice,  and  the  serpent  its  feet ;  dark 
and  noisome  shall  be  the  den  in  which  the  serpent  shall  dwell, 
dust  shall  be  its  meat,  and  its  destruction  shall  be  a  meritori¬ 
ous  work.  Eblis  shall  be  cast  into  the  torments  of  hell.” 

Our  parents  were  then  driven  out  of  Paradise,  and  one  leaf 
alone  was  given  to  each,  wherewith  to  hide  their  nakedness. 
Adam  was  expelled  through  the  gate  of  Repentance,  that  he 
might  know  that  through  it  alone  could  Paradise  be  regained  ; 
Eve  was  banished  through  the  gate  of  grace  ;  the  peacock  and 
the  serpent  through  that  of  Wrath,  and  Eblis  through  the  gate 
of  Damnation.  Adam  fell  into  the  island  Serendib  (Ceylon), 
Eve  at  Jedda,  the  Serpent  into  the  desert  of  Sahara,  the  Pea¬ 
cock  into  Persia,  and  Eblis  into  the  river  Eila.1 

Tabari  says  that  when  the  forbidden  wheat  had  entered  the 
belly  of  Adam  and  Eve,  all  the  skin  came  off,  except  from  the 
ends  of  the  fingers.  Now  this  skin  had  been  pink  and  horny, 
so  that  they  had  been  invulnerable  in  Paradise,  and  they  were 
left  naked  and  with  a  tender  skin  which  could  easily  be  lacer¬ 
ated  ;  but  as  often  as  Adam  and  Eve  looked  on  their  finger¬ 
nails,  they  remembered  what  skin  they  had  worn  in  Eden.2 

Tabari  also  says  that  four  trees  pitying  the  shame  of  Adam 
and  Eve,  the  Peacock,  and  the  Serpent,  in  being  driven  naked 
out  of  Paradise,  bowed  their  branches  and  gave  each  a  leaf. 

1  Weil,  pp.  19-28.  *  Tabari,  i.  p.  80. 


44 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


Certain  Rabbis  say  that  Adam  ate  only  on  compulsion, 
that  he  refused,  but  Eve  u  took  of  the  tree,” — that  is,  broke 
a  branch  and  “  gave  it  him,”  with  the  stick. 

According  to  the  Talmudic  book,  Emek  Hammelech  (f.  23, 
col.  3),  Eve,  on  eating  the  fruit,  felt  in  herself  the  poison  of 
Jerzer  hara,  or  Original  sin,  and  resolved  that  Adam  should 
not  be  without  it  also  ;  she  made  him  eat  and  then  forced  the 
fruit  on  the  animals,  that  they  might  all,  without  exception, 
fall  under  the  same  condemnation,  and  become  subject  to 
death.  But  the  bird  Choi — that  is,  the  Phoenix — would  not 
be  deceived,  but  flew  away  and  would  not  eat.  And  now  the 
Phoenix,  says  the  Rabbi  Joden  after  the  Rabbi  Simeon,  lives 
a  thousand  years,  then  shrivels  up  till  it  is  the  size  of  an  egg, 
and  then  from  himself  he  emerges  young  and  beautiful  again. 

We  have  seen  what  are  the  Asiatic  myths  relating  to  Adam 
and  Eve;  let  us  now  turn  to  Africa.  In  Egypt  it  was  related 
that  Osiris  lived  with  Isis  his  sister  and  wife  in  Nysa,  or  Par¬ 
adise,  which  was  situated  in  Arabia.  This  Paradise  was  an 
island,  surrounded  by  the  stream  Triton,  but  it  was  also  a 
steep  mountain  that  could  only  be  reached  on  one  side.  It 
was  adorned  with  beautiful  flowers  and  trees  laden  with  pleas¬ 
ant  fruits,  watered  by  sweet  streams,  and  in  it  dwelt  the  death¬ 
less  ones. 

There  Osiris  found  the  vine,  and  Isis  the  wheat,  to  become 
the  food  and  drink  of  men.  There  they  built  a  golden  temple, 
and  lived  in  supreme  happiness  till  the  desire  came  on  Osiris 
to  discover  the  water  of  Immortality,  in  seeking  which  he  left 
Nysa,  and  was  in  the  end  slain  by  Typhon.1 

The  following  is  a  very  curious  negro  tradition,  taken  down 
by  Dr.  Tutschek  from  a  native  in  Tumale,  near  the  centre  of 
Africa. 

Til  (God)  made  men  and  bade  them  live  together  in  peace 
and  happiness,  labor  five  days,  and  keep  the  sixth  as  a  festival. 
They  were  forbidden  to  hurt  the  beasts  or  reptiles.  They 
themselves  were  deathless,  but  the  animals  suffered  death. 
Thefrogwas  accursed  by  God,  because  when  He  was  making 
the  animals  it  hopped  over  his  foot.  Then  God  ordered  the 
men  to  build  mountains  :  they  did  so,  but  they  soon  forgot 
God’s  commands,  killed  the  beasts  and  quarrelled  with  one 
another.  Wherefore  Til  (God)  sent  fire  and  destroyed  them. 


1  Diod.  Sicul.,  14  et  seq. 


THE  FALL  OF  MAN. 


45 


but  saved  one  of  the  race,  named  Musikdegen,  alive.  Then 
Til  began  to  re-create  beings.  He  stood  before  a  wood  and 
called,  Ombo  Abnatum  Dgu  !  and  there  came  out  a  gazelle  and 
licked  His  feet.  So  He  said,  stand  up,  Gazelle  !  and  when  it 
stood  up,  its  beast  form  disappeared,  and  it  was  a  beautiful 
maiden,  and  He  called  her  Mariam.  He  blessed  her,  and  she 
bore  four  children,  a  white  pair  and  a  black  pair.  When  they 
were  grown  up,  God  ordered  them  to  marry,  the  white  together 
and  the  black  together.  In  Dai,  the  story  goes  that  Til  cut  out 
both  Mariam’s  knee-caps,  and  of  each  He  made  a  pair  of  chil¬ 
dren.  Those  which  were  white  He  sent  north  ;  those  which 
were  black  He  gave  possession  of  the  land  where  they  were 
born. 

God  then  made  the  animals  subject  to  death,  but  the  men 
He  made  were  immortal.  But  the  new  created  men  became 
disobedient,  as  had  the  first  creatures  ;  and  the  frog  complain¬ 
ed  to  Him  of  His  injustice  in  having  made  the  harmless  ani¬ 
mals  subject  to  death,  but  guilty  man  deathless.  “  Thou  art 
right,”  answered  Til,  and  He  cast  on  the  men  He  had  made, 
old  age,  sickness,  and  death.1 

The  Fantis  relate  that  they  are  not  in  the  same  condition 
as  that  in  which  they  were  made,  for  their  first  parents  had 
been  placed  in  a  lofty  and  more  suitable  country,  but  God 
drave  them  into  an  inferior  habitation,  that  they  might  learn 
humility.  On  the  Gold  Coast  the  reason  of  the  Fall  is  said 
to  have  been  that  the  first  men  were  offered  the  choice  of 
gold  or  of  wisdom,  and  they  chose  the  former.2 

In  Ashantee  the  story  is  thus  told.  In  the  beginning,  God 
created  three  white  and  three  black  men  and  women,  and  gave 
them  the  choice  between  good  and  evil.  A  great  calabash 
was  placed  on  the  earth,  as  also  a  sealed  paper,  and  God  gave 
the  black  men  the  first  choice.  They  took  the  calabash,  think¬ 
ing  it  contained  everything,  and  in  it  were  only  a  lump  of  gold, 
a  bar  of  iron,  and  some  other  metals.  The  white  men  took  the 
sealed  paper,  in  which  they  learned  everything.  So  God  left 
the  black  men  in  the  bush  and  took  the  white  men  to  the  sea, 
and  He  taught  them  how  to  build  ships  and  go  into  another 
land.  This  fall  from  God  caused  the  black  men  to  worship 
the  subsidiary  Fetishes  instead  of  Him.3 

1  Ausland  fur,  Nov.  4,  1847. 

2  W.  Smith,  Nouveau  Voyage  de  Guinee.  Paris,  1751,  ii.  p.  176. 

3  Bowdier,  Mission  from  Cape  Coast  to  Ashantee.  London,  1819, 

P-  344. 


46 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS . 


In  Greenland  “  the  first  man  is  said  to  have  been  Kallak. 
He  came  out  of  the  earth,  but  his  wife  issued  from  his  thumb, 
and  from  them  all  generations  of  men  have  sprung.  To  him 
many  attribute  the  origin  of  all  things.  The  woman  brought 
death  into  the  world,  in  that  she  said,  Let  us  die  to  make 
room  for  our  successors. ” 1 

The  tradition  of  the  Dog-rib  Indians  near  the  Polar  Sea,  as 
related  by  Sir  J.  Franklin  in  his  account  of  his  expedition  of 
1825 — 27,  is  that  the  first  man  was  called  Tschapiwih.  He 
found  the  earth  filled  with  abundance  of  all  good  things.  He 
begat  children  and  he  gave  to  them  two  sorts  of  fruit,  one 
white  and  the  other  black,  and  he  bade  them  eat  the  white, 
but  eschew  the  black.  And  having  given  them  this  command 
he  left  them  and  went  a  long  journey  to  fetch  the  sun  to  en¬ 
lighten  the  world.  During  his  absence  they  ate  only  of  the 
white  fruit,  and  then  the  father  made  a  second  journey  to 
fetch  the  moon,  leaving  them  well  provided  with  fruit.  But 
after  a  while  they  forgot  his  command,  and  consumed  the 
black  fruit.  On  his  return  he  was  angry,  and  cursed  the 
ground  that  it  should  thenceforth  produce  only  the  black 
fruit,  and  that  with  it  should  come  in  sickness  and  death. 

Dr.  Hunter,  in  his  “  Memoirs  of  Captivity  amongst  the 
Indians,  ”  says  that  the  Delawares  believe  that  in  the  begin¬ 
ning  the  Red  men  had  short  tails,  but  they  blasphemed  the 
Great  Spirit,  and  in  punishment  for  their  sin  their  tails  were 
cut  off  and  transformed  into  women,  to  be  their  perpetual 
worry.  The  same  story  is  told  by  Mr.  Atherne  Jones,  as 
heard  by  him  among  the  Kikapoos. 

The  ancient  Mexicans  had  a  myth  of  Xolotl,  making  out  of 
a  man’s  bone  the  primeval  mother  in  the  heavenly  Paradise  ; 
and  he  called  the  woman  he  had  made  Cihuacouhatl,  which 
means  “  The  woman  with  the  serpent,”  or  Quilatzli,  which 
means  “  The  woman  of  our  flesh.”  She  was  the  mother  of 
twins,  and  is  represented  in  a  Mexican  hieroglyph  as  speaking 
with  the  serpent,  whilst  behind  her  stand  the  twins,  whose  dif¬ 
ferent  characters  are  represented  by  different  colors,  one  of 
whom  is  represented  slaying  the  other.2  Xolotl,  who  made 
her  out  of  a  bone,  was  cast  out  of  heaven  and  became  the  first 
man.  That  the  Mexicans  had  other  traditions,  now  lost,  touch 

1  Cranz,  Histone  von  Gronland.  Leipzig,  1770,  i.  p.  262. 

2  Humboldt,  Pittoreske  Ansichten  d.  Cordilleren;  Plate  xiii.  and  ex¬ 
planation,  ii.  pp.  41,  42. 


THE  FALL  OF  MAW. 


47 


ing  this  matter  is  probable,  for  they  had  a  form  of  baptism  for 
children  in  which  they  prayed  that  those  baptized  might  be 
washed  from  “  the  original  sin  committed  before  the  founding 
of  the  world.”  And  this  had  to  do,  in  all  probability,  with  a 
legend  akin  to  that  of  the  Iroquois,  who  told  of  the  primeval 
mother  falling,  and  then  of  the  earth  being  built  up  to  receive 
her,  when  precipitated  out  of  heaven. 

The  Caribs  of  South  America  relate  that  Luoguo,  the  first 
man  and  god,  created  the  earth  and  the  sea,  and  made  the 
earth  as  fair  as  the  beautiful  garden  in  the  heaven  where  dwell 
the  gods.  Luoguo  dwelt  among  the  men  he  had  made  for 
some  while.  He  drew  the  men  out  of  his  navel  and  out  of  his 
thigh  which  he  cut  open.  One  of  the  first  men  was  Racumon, 
who  was  transformed  into  a  great  serpent  with  a  human  head, 
and  he  lived  twined  round  a  great  Cabatas  tree  and  ate  of  its 
fruit,  and  gave  to  those  who  passed  by.  Then  the  Caribs  lived 
to  a  great  age,  and  never  waxed  old  or  died.  Afterwards  they 
found  a  garden  planted  with  manioc,  and  on  that  they  fed. 
But  they  became  wicked,  and  a  flood  came  and  swept  them 
away.1 

In  the  South  Sea  Islands  we  find  other  traditions  of  the 
Fail.  In  Alea,  one  of  the  Caroline  Islands,  the  tale  runs 
thus  : — 

“  The  sister  of  Eliulap  the  first  man,  who  was  also  a  god, 
felt  herself  in  labor,  so  she  descended  to  earth  and  there 
brought  forth  three  children.  To  her  astonishment  she  found 
the  earth  barren  ;  therefore  by  her  mighty  word, .she  clothed  it 
with  herbage  and  peopled  it  with  beasts  and  birds.  And  the 
world  became  very  beautiful,  and  her  sons  were  happy  and  did 
not  feel  sickness  or  death,  but  at  the  close  of  every  month  fell 
into  a  slumber  from  which  they  awoke  renewed  in  strength  and 
beauty.  But  Erigeres,  the  bad  spirit,  envied  this  happiness, 
so  he  came  to  the  world  and  introduced  into  it  pain,  age,  and 
death.”  3 

With  the  Jewish  additions  to  the  story  given  in  Genesis, 
we  shall  conclude. 

The  godless  Sammael  had  made  an  alliance  with  all  the 
chiefs  of  his  hosts  against  the  Lord,  because  that  the  holy  and 
ever  blessed  Lord  had  said  to  Adam  and  Eve,  “  Have  dominion 
o-vcr  the  fish  of  the  sea,”  etc. ;  and  he  said,  “  How  can  I  make 

%  1  De  la  Borde,  Reise  zu  den  Caraiben.  Nttrnb.  1782,  i.  pp.  380-5. 

•  Allg.  Hist,  der  Reisen,  xviii.  p.  395. 


48 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


man  to  sin  and  drive  him  out  ?  ”  Then  he  went  down  to  earth 
with  all  his  host,  and  he  sought  for  a  companion  like  to  him¬ 
self;  he  chose  the  serpent,  which  was  in  size  like  a  camel, 
and  he  seated  himself  on  its  back  and  rode  up  to  the  woman, 
and  said  to  her,  “  Hath  God  said Ye  shall  not  eat  of  every  tret 
of  the  garden  l  ”  And  he  thought,  “  I  will  ask  more  presently 
Then  she  answered,  “  He  has  only  forbidden  me  the  fruit  ol 
the  Tree  of  Knowlege  whiqh  is  in  the  midst  of  the  garden 
And  He  said,  ‘  In  the  day  thou  touchest  it  thou  shalt  die.’ 
She  added  two  words  ;  God  did  not  say  any  thing  to  her  about 
touching  it,  and  she  spoke  of  the  fruit,  whereas  God  said  the 
Tree. 

Then  the  godless  one,  Sammael,  went  up  to  the  tree  and 
touched  it.  But  the  tree  cried  out,  “  Let  not  the  foot  of  pride 
come  against  me,  and  let  not  the  hand  of  the  ungodly  cast  me 
down  l  Touch  me  not,  thou  godless  one  !  ” 

Then  Sammael  called  to  the  woman,  and  said,  “  See,  I 
have  touched  the  tree  and  am  not  dead.  Do  you  also  touch 
it  and  try.”  But  when  Eve  drew  near  to  the  tree  she  saw  the 
Angel  of  Death  waiting  sword  in  hand,  and  she  said  in  her 
heart,  “  Perhaps  I  am  to  die,  and  then  God  will  create  another 
wife  for  Adam  ;  that  shall  not  be,  he  must  die  too.”  So  she 
gave  him  of  the  fruit.  And  when  he  took  it  and  bit,  his 
teeth  were  blunted,  and  thus  it  is  that  the  back  teeth  of  men 
are  no  longer  sharp.1 


v. 

ADAM  AND  EVE  AFTER  THE  FALL. 

When  Adam  reached  the  earth,  the  Eagle  said  to  the  Whale, 
with  whom  it  had  hitherto  lived  in  the  closest  intimacy, 
Now  we  must  part,  for  there  is  no  safety  for  us  animals  since 
man  has  come  amongst  us.  The  deepest  abysses  of  ocean 
must  be  thy  refuge,  and  thou  must  protect  thyself  with  cun¬ 
ning  from  the  great  foe  who  has  entered  the  earth.  I  must 
soar  high  above  the  clouds,  and  there  find  a  place  of  escape 
from  him  who  is  destined  to  be  my  pursuer  till  death.”  2 

According  to  certain  cabbalistic  Rabbis,  Adam,  when  cast 
out  of  Eden,  was  precipitated  into  Gehenna,  but  he  escaped 

1  Eisenmenger,  i.  pp.  827-9.  1  Weil.  p.  28, 


ADAM  AND  EVE  AFTER  THE  FALL . 


49 


therefrom  to  earth,  by  repeating  and  pronouncing  properly  the 
mystic  word  Laverererareri. 1  In  the  Talmud  it  is  related  that 
when  Adam  heard  the  words  of  God,  “  Thou  shall  eat  the  herb 
of  the  field ”  (Gen.  iii.  18),  he  trembled  in  all  his  limbs,  and 
exclaimed,  “O  Lord  of  all  the  world!  I  and  my  beast,  the 
Ass,  shall  have  to  eat  out  of  the  same  manger!  ”  But  God 
said  to  him,  because  he  trembled,  “Thou  shalt  eat  bread  in 
the  sweat  of  thy  brow.”  2 

Learned  Rabbis  assert  that  the  angel  Raphael  had  instructed 
Adam  in  all  kinds  of  knowledge  out  of  a  book,  and  this  book 
contained  mighty  mysteries  which  the  highest  angels  could  not 
fathom,  and  knew  not;  and  before  the  Fall  the  angels  used  to 
assemble  in  crowds,  and  listen  to  Adam  instructing  them  in 
hidden  wisdom.  In  that  book  were  seventy-two  parts  and  six 
hundred  and  seventy  writings,  and  all  this  was  known;  but 
from  the  middle  of  the  book  to  the  end  were  the  one  thousand 
five  hundred  bidden  secrets  of  Wisdom,  and  these  Adam  began 
to  reveal  to  the  angels  till  he  was  arrested  by  the  angel  Had- 
darniel.  This  book  Adam  preserved  and  read  in  daily;  but 
when  he  had  sinned,  it  fled  out  of  his  hands  and  flew  away,  and 
he  went  into  the  river  Gihon  up  to  his  neck,  and  the  water 
washed  the  glory  wherewith  he  had  shone  in  Paradise  from 
off  his  body.  But  God  was  merciful,  and  He  restored  to  him 
the  book  by  the  hands  of  Raphael,  and  he  left  it  to  his  son 
Seth,  and  Enoch  and  Abraham  read  in  this  book.3 

Along  with  the  book  Adam  retained  the  rod  which  God  had 
created  at  the  close  of  the  Sabbath,  between  sun  and  sun ;  i  e . 
between  nightfall  and  daybreak,  so  says  the  Rabbi  Levi.  Adam 
left  it  to  Enoch,  and  Enoch  gave  it  to  Noah,  and  Noah  gave  it 
to  Shem,  and  Shem  to  Abraham,  and  Abraham  delivered  it 
to  Isaac,  and  Isaac  gave  it  to  Jacob;  Jacob  brought  the  staff 
with  him  to  Egypt,  and  gave  it  to  his  son  Joseph.  Now  when 
Joseph  died,  his  house  was  plundered  by  the  Egyptians,  and 
all  his  effects  were  taken  into  Pharaoh’s  house.  Jethro  was  a 
mighty  magician,  and  when  he  saw  the  staff  of  Adam  and  read 
the  writing  thereon,  he  went  forth  into  Edom  and  planted  it  in 
his  garden.  And  Jethro  would  allow  none  to  touch  it;  but 
when  he  saw  Moses  he  said,  “  This  is  he  who  will  deliver  Isra¬ 
el  out  of  Egypt.”  Wherefore  he  gave  him  his  daughter  Zip- 

1  Basnage,  Histoire  des  Juifs.  La  Hays,  iii.  p.  391. 

2  Tract  Avod.,  f.  1.  col.  3;  also  Tract  Pesachim,  f.  118,  col.  I. 

3  Eisenmenger,  i.  pp.  376,  379. 


5° 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


porah  and  the  staff.  But  the  book  Midrash  Vajoscha  relates 
this  rather  differently,  in  the  words  of  Moses  himself :  “  After 
I  had  become  great  I  went  out,  and  seeing  an  Egyptian  ill- 
treat  a  Hebrew  man  of  my  brethren,  I  slew  him  and  buried 
him  in  the  sand.  But  when  Pharoah  heard  this  he  sought  to 
slay  me,  and  brought  a  sharp  sword  the  like  of  which  was  not 
in  the  world  ;  and  therewith  I  was  ten  times  smitten  on  my 
neck.  But  the  Holy  God  wrought  a  miracle,  for  my  neck  be¬ 
came  as  hard  as  a  marble  pillar,  so  that  the  sword  had  no  pow¬ 
er  over  me.  And  I  was  forty  years  old  when  I  fled  out  of 
Egypt ;  and  I  came  to  Jethro’s  house  and  stood  by  the  well 
and  found  Zipporah  his  daughter ;  and  when  I  saw  her,  I  was 
pleased  with  her,  and  asked  her  to  marry  me.  Then  she  re¬ 
lated  to  me  her  father’s  custom,  and  it  was  this.  ‘  My  fathei 
proves  every  suitor  for  my  hand  by  a  tree  which  is  in  his  gar¬ 
den  ;  and  when  he  comes  to  the  tree,  the  tree  clasps  him  in  its 
branches.’  Then  I  asked  her  where  such  a  tree  was,  and  she 
answered  me,  4  This  is  the  staff  which  God  created  on  the  eve 
of  the  Sabbath,  which  was  handed  down  from  Adam  to  Jo¬ 
seph  ;  but  Jethro  saw  the  staff  at  the  plundering  of  Joseph’s 
house,  and  he  took  it  away  with  him  from  Pharaoh’s  palace 
and  brought  it  here.  This  is  the  staff  on  which  is  cut  the 
Schem  hammphorasch  and  the  ten  plagues  that  are  in  store  for 
Egypt,  and  these  are  indicated  by  ten  letters  on  the  staff,  and 
they  stand  thus  :  darn,  blood  ;  zephardeim ,  frogs  ;  kinnim ,  lice ; 
arof)  various  insects ;  defer ,  murrain  ;  schechim ,  blain  ;  barad ’ 
hail  y  arbehy  locusts ;  choschechy  darkness  ;  and  bechor ,  first 
born : — these  will  be  the  plagues  of  Egypt.  This  staff  was  for 
many  days  and  years  in  my  father’s  house,  till  he  one  day  took 
it  in  his  hand  and  stuck  it  into  the  earth  in  the  garden  ;  and 
then  it  sprouted  and  bloomed  and  brought  forth  almonds,  and 
when  he  saw  that,  he  proved  every  one  who  sought  one  of  his 
daughters  by  that  tree.’  ”  These  are  the  words  of  the  Book 
Midrash  Vajoscha,  and  thereby  may  be  seen  that  the  staff  of 
Adam  was  of  almond  wood  ;  but  Yalkut  Chadasch,  under  the 
title  “  Adam,”  says  that  the  staff  was  of  the  wood  of  the  Tree 
of  the  Knowledge  of  Good  and  Evil.1 

When  Adam  and  Eve  were  driven  out  of  the  garden,  says 
the  Talmud,  they  wandered  disconsolate  over  the  face  of  the 
earth.  And  the  sun  began  to  decline,  and  they  looked  with 


1  Eisenmenger,  i.  pp.  377-80. 


ADAM  AND  EVE  AFTER  THE  FALL. 


51 

fear  at  the  diminution  of  the  light,  and  felt  a  horror  like  death 
steal  over  their  hearts. 

And  the  light  of  heaven  grew  paler,  and  the  wretched 
ones  clasped  one  another  in  an  agony  of  despair. 

Then  all  grew  dark. 

And  the  luckless  ones  fell  on  the  earth,  silent,  and  thought 
that  God  had  withdrawn  from  them  the  light  forever ;  and 
they  spent  the  night  in  tears. 

But  a  beam  of  light  began  to  rise  over  the  eastern  hills, 
after  many  hours  of  darkness,  and  the  clouds  blushed  crim- 
son,  and  the  golden  sun  came  back,  and  dried  the  tears  of 
Adam  and  Eve ;  and  then  they  greeted  it  with  cries  of  glad¬ 
ness,  and  said,  “ Heaviness  may  endure for  a  night ,  but  joy  cometh 
in  the  morning  ;  this  is  a  law  that  God  has  laid  upon  nature.” 

Among  the  Manichean  myths  prevalent  among  the  Albi- 
genses,  was  one  preserved  to  us  by  the  troubadour  Pierre  de- 
Saint-Cloud.  When  Adam  was  driven  out  of  Paradise,  God 
in  mercy  gave  him  a  miraculous  rod,  which  possessed  creative 
powers,  so  that  he  had  only  to  strike  the  sea  with  it  and  it 
would  forthwith  produce  the  beast  he  might  require. 

Adam  struck  the  sea,  and  there  rose  from  it  the  sheep; 
then  Eve  took  the  staff  and  smote  the  water,  and  from  it 
sprang  the  wolf,  which  fell  on  the  sheep  and  carried  it  off  into 
the  wood.  Then  Adam  took  back  the  staff,  and  with  it 
called  forth  the  dog  to  hunt  the  wolf  and  recover  the  sheep. 

According  to  the  Mussulman  tradition,  Adam’s  beard  grew 
after  he  had  fallen,  and  it  was  the  result  of  his  excessive  grief 
and  penitence  :  how  this  affected  his  chin  is  not  explained,  the 
fact  only  is  thus  boldly  stated.  He  was  sorely  abashed  at  his 
beard,  but  a  voice  from  heaven  called  to  him,  saying,  “  The 
beard  is  man’s  ornament  on  earth  ;  it  distinguishes  him  from 
the  feeble  woman.”  Adam  shed  so  many  tears  that  all  birds 
and  beasts  drank  of  them,  and  flowing  into  the  earth  they  pro¬ 
duced  the  fragrant  plants  and  gum-bearing  trees,  for  they  were 
still  endued  with  the  strength  and  virtue  of  the  food  of 
Paradise. 

But  the  tears  of  Eve  were  transformed  into  pearls  where 
they  dribbled  into  the  sea,  and  into  beautiful  flowers  where 
they  sank  into  the  soil. 

Both  wailed  so  loud  that  Eve’s  cry  reached  Adam  on  the 
West  wind,  and  Adam’s  cry  was  Borne  to  Eve  on  the  wings  of 


UNIVERSITY  OF 
ILLINOIS  LIBRARY 


52 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


the  East  wind.  And  when  Eve  heard  the  well-known  voice 
she  clasped  her  hands  above  her  head,  and  women  to  this  day 
thus  testify  their  sorrow ;  and  Adam,  when  the  voice  of  the 
weeping  of  Eve  sounded  in  his  ears,  put  his  right  hand  beneath 
his  beard, — thus  do  men  to  this  day  give  evidence  of  their 
mourning.  And  the  tears  pouring  out  of  Adam’s  eyes  formed 
the  two  rivers  Tigris  and  Euphrates.  All  nature  wept  with 
him ;  every  bird  and  beast  hastened  to  him  to  mingle  their 
tears  with  his,  but  the  locust  was  the  first  to  arrive,  for  it  was 
made  of  the  superfluous  earth  which  bad  been  gathered  for 
the  creation  of  Adam.  There  are  seven  thousand  kinds  of 
locusts  or  .grasshoppers,  of  all  colors  and  sizes,  up  to  the  di¬ 
mensions  of  an  eagle ;  and  they  have  a  king  to  whom  God  ad 
dresses  His  commands  when  He  would  punish  a  rebellious  na¬ 
tion  such  as  that  of  Egypt.  The  black  character  imprinted 
on  the  locust’s  wing  is  Hebrew,  and  it  signifies,  “  God  is  One ; 
He  overcometh  the  mighty ;  the  locusts  are  a  portion  of  His 
army  which  He  sends  against  the  wicked.”  As  all  nature  thus 
wailed  and  lamented,  from  the  invisible  insect  to  the  angel 
who  upholds  the  world,  God  sent  Gabriel  with  the  words  which 
were  in  after-time  to  save  Jonah  in  the  whale’s  belly,  “There 
is  no  God  but  Thou ;  pardon  me  for  Mohammed’s  sake,  that 
great  and  last  prophet,  whose  name  is  engraved  on  Thy  throne.” 

When  Adam  had  uttered  these  words  with  penitent  heart, 
the  gates  of  heaven  opened,  and  Gabriel  cried  out,  “  God  has 
accepted  thy  penitence,  Adam  !  pray  to  him  alone,  He  will 
give  thee  what  thou  desirest,  even  the  return  to  Paradise,  after 
a  certain  time.” 

Adam  prayed,  “  Lord,  protect  me  from  the  further  malice 
of  my  enemy  Eblis.” 

“  Speak  the  word,  There  is  no  God  but  God ;  that  wounds 
him  like  a  poisoned  arrow.” 

“Lord,  will  not  the  meat  and  drink  provided  by  this  earth 
lead  me  into  sin?” 

“  Drink  water,  and  eat  only  clean  beasts  which  have  been 
slain  in  the  name  of  Allah,  and  build  mosques  where  you  dwell, 
so  will  Eblis  have  no  power  over  you.” 

“But  if  he  torment  me  at  night  with  evil  thoughts  and 
dreams  ?  ” 

“  Then  rise  from  thy  couch  and  pray.” 

“  Lord,  how  shall  I  be  able  to  distinguish  between  good  and 

evil?” 


ADAM  AND  EVE  AFTER  THE  FALL . 


53 


“  My  guidance  will  be  with  thee  ;  and  two  angels  will  dwell 
in  thy  heart,  who  shall  warn  thee  against  evil  and  encourage 
thee  to  good.” 

“  Lord,  assure  me  Thy  grace  against  sin.” 

“  That  can  only  be  obtained  by  good  works.  But  this  I 
promise  thee,  evil  shall  be  punished  one-fold,  good  shall  be 
rewarded  tenfold.” 

In  the  meanwhile  the  angel  Michael  had  been  sent  to  Eve 
to  announce  to  her  God’s  mercy.  When  Eve  saw  him,  she 
exclaimed,  “  O  great  and  almighty  Archangel  of  God,  with 
what  weapon  shall  I,  poor  frail  creature,  fight  against  sin  ?  ” 

“  God,”  answered  the  Angel,  “  has  given  me  for  thee,  the 
most  potent  weapon  of  modesty  ;  that,  as  man  is  armed  with 
faith  so  mayest  thou  be  armed  with  shamefacedness  there¬ 
with  to  conquer  thy  passions.” 

“  And  what  will  protect  me  against  the  strength  of  man, 
so  much  more  robust  and  vigorous  than  I,  in  mind  and  in 
body? ” 

“  Love  and  compassion,”  answered  Michael.  “  I  have 
placed  these  in  the  deepest  recesses  of  his  heart,  as  mighty 
advocates  within  him  to  plead  for  thee.” 

“  And  will  God  give  me  no  further  gift  ?  ” 

“  For  the  pangs  of  maternity  thou  shalt  feel,  this  shall  be 
thine,  death  in  child-bearing  shall  be  reckoned  in  heaven  as  a 
death  of  martrydom.  ”  1 

Eblis,  seeing  the  mercy  shown  to  Adam  and  Eve,  ventured 
to  entreat  God’s  grace  for  himself,  and  obtained  that  he 
should  not  be  enchained  in  the  place  of  torment  till  the  day 
of  the  general  Resurrection,  and  that  he  should  exercise 
sovereignty  over  the  wicked  and  all  those  who  should  reject 
God’s  word  in  this  life. 

“  And  where  shall  I  dwell  till  the  consummation  of  all 
things  ?  ”  he  asked  of  Allah. 

“  In  ruined  buildings,  and  in  tombs,  and  in  dens  and 
caves  of  the  mountains.” 

“  And  what  shall  be  my  nourishment  ?  ” 

“  All  beasts  slain  in  the  name  of  false  gods  and  idols.” 

“  And  how  shall  I  slake  my  thirst  ?  ” 

“  In  wine  and  other  spirituous  liquors.” 

1  It  is  a  popular  superstition  among  the  lower  orders  is  England 
that  a  woman  who  dies  in  childbirth,  even  if  she  be  unmarried ;  cannot 

be  lost. 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


“  And  how  shall  I  occupy  myself  in  hours  of  idleness  ?  ” 

“  In  music,  dancing,  and  song.” 

“  What  is  the  word  of  my  sentence  ?  ” 

“The  curse  of  God  till  the  Judgment-day.” 

“  And  how  shall  I  fight  against  those  men  who  have  re¬ 
ceived  Thy  revelation,  and  are  protected  by  the  two  angels  ?” 

“Thy  offspring  shall  be  more  numerous  than  theirs:  to 
fivery  man  born  into  this  world,  there  will  be  born  seven  evil 
spirits,  who,  however,  will  be  powerless  to  injure  true  Be¬ 
lievers.” 

God  then  made  a  covenant  with  Adam’s  successors ;  He 
tubbed  Adam’s  back,  and  lo  !  from  out  of  his  back  crawled 
all  generations  of  men  that  were  to  be  born,  about  the  size  of 
ants,  and  they  ranged  themselves  on  the  left  and  on  the  right. 
At  the  head  of  those  on  the  right  stood  Mohammed,  then  the 
other  prophets  and  the  faithful,  distinguished  from  those  on 
the  left  by  their  white  and  dazzling  splendor.  Those  on  the 
left  were  headed  by  Kabil  (Cain). 

God  then  acquainted  Adam  with  the  names  and  fate  of  all 
his  posterity ;  and  when  the  recital  arrived  at  David,  to  whom 
God  had  allotted  only  thirty  years,  Adam  asked  God,  “  How 
many  years  are  accorded  to  me  ?  ” 

Allah  replied,  “  One  thousand.” 

Then  said  Adam,  “  I  make  a  present  to  David  of  seventy 
years  out  of  my  life.”  God  consented  ;  and  knowing  the  short¬ 
ness  of  Adam’s  memory,  at  all  events  in  matters  concerning 
himself  inconveniently,  He  made  the  angels  bring  a  formal 
document  of  resignation  engrossed  on  parchment,  and  required 
Adam  to  subscribe  thereto  his  name,  and  Michael  and  Gabriel 
to  countersign  it  as  witnesses. 

A  very  similar  tradition  was  held  by  the  Jews,  for  in  Mid¬ 
rash  Jalkut  (fol.  12)  it  is  said  :  God  showed  Adam  all  future 
generations  of  men,  with  their  captains,  learned  and  literary 
men.  Then  he  saw  that  David  was  provided  with  only  three 
hours  of  life,  and  he  said,  “Lord  and  Creator  of  the  world,  is 
this  unalterable?”  “Such  was  my  first  intention,”  was  the 
reply. 

“  How  many  years  have  I  to  live  ?  ” 

“  A  thousand.” 

“And  is  there  such  a  thing  known  in  heaven  as  making 
presents  ?  ” 

“  Most  certainly.” 


ADAM  AND  EVE  AETER  THE  FALL . 


55 


“  Then  I  present  seventy  years  of  my  life  to  David.” 

And  what  did  Adam  next  perform  ?  He  drew  up  a  legal 
document  of  transfer,  and  sealed  it  with  his  own  seal,  and 
God  and  Metatron  did  likewise. 

To  return  to  the  Mussulman  legend. 

When  all  the  posterity  of  Adam  were  assembled,  God  ex¬ 
claimed  to  them,  “  Acknowledge  that  I  am  the  only  God,  and 
that  Mohammed  is  my  prophet.”  The  company  on  the  right 
eagerly  made  this  acknowledgment;  those,  however,  on  the 
left  long  hesitated, — some  said  only  the  former  portion  of  the 
sentence,  and  others  did  not  open  their  mouths. 

“  The  disobedient,”  said  Allah  to  Adam,  “  shall,  if  they  re¬ 
main  obstinate,  be  cast  into  hell,  but  the  true  believers  shall 
be  received  into  Paradise.” 

“  So  be  it,”  replied  Adam.  And  thus  shall  it  be  at  the 
end  of  the  world. 

After  the  covenant,  Allah  rubbed  Adam’s  back  once  more, 
and  all  his  little  posterity  retreated  into  it  again. 

When  now  God  withdrew  His  presence  from  Adam’s  sight 
for  the  remainder  of  our  first  parents’  life,  Adam  uttered  such 
a  loud  and  bitter  cry  that  the  whole  earth  quaked. 

The  All-merciful  was  filled  with  compassion,  and  bade  him 
follow  a  cloud  which  would  conduct  him  to  a  spot  where  he 
would  be  directly  opposite  His  throne,  and  there  he  was  to 
build  a  temple. 

“  Go  about  this  temple,”  said  Allah,  “  and  I  am  as  near 
to  you  as  the  angels  who  surround  my  throne.”  Adam,  who 
was  still  the  size  that  God  had  created  him,  easily  strode  from 
Ceylon  to  Mecca  after  the  cloud,  which  stood  over  the  place 
where  he  was  to  build.  On  Mount  Arafa,  near  Mecca,  to  his 
great  delight,  he  found  Eve  again,  and  from  this  circumstance 
the  mountain  takes  its  name  (from  Arafa,  to  recognize,  to  know 
again).  They  both  began  to  build,  and  erected  a  temple  hav¬ 
ing  four  doors — one  was  called  Adam’s  door,  another  Abra¬ 
ham’s  door,  the  third  Ishmael’s  door,  and  the  fourth  Moham¬ 
med’s  door.  The  plan  of  the  temple  was  furnished  by  Gabriel, 
who  also  contributed  a  precious  stone,  but  this  stone  afterwards, 
through  the  sin  of  men,  turned  black.  This  black  stone  is  the 
most  sacred  Kaaba,  and  it  was  originally  an  angel,  whose  duty 
it  had  been  to  guard  the  Wheat-Tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good 
and  evil,  and  to  warn  off  Adam  should  he  approach  it.  But 
through  his  inattention  the  design  of  God  was  frustrated,  and  in 


5« 


O'.D  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS 


punishment  he  was  transformed  into  a  stone,  and  he  will  not 
be  released  from  his  transformation  till  the  Last  Day. 

Gabriel  taught  Adam  also  all  the  ceremonies  of  the  great 
pilgrimage. 

Adam  now  returned  with  his  wife  to  India,  and  lived  there  till 
he  died,  but  every  year  he  made  a  pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  till  he  lost 
his  primitive  size,  and  retained  only  the  height  of  sixty  eels. 

The  cause  of  his  diminution  in  height  was  his  horror  and 
dismay  at  the  murder  of  Abel,  which  made  him  shrink  into 
himself,  and  he  was  never  afterwards  able  to  stretch  himself  out 
again  to  his  pristine  dimensions.1 

The  Book  of  the  Penitence  of  Adam  is  a  curious  apocryphal 
work  of  Syriac  origin  ;  I  give  an  outline  of  its  contents. 

God  planted,  on  the  third  day,  the  Terrestrial  Paradise ;  it  is 
bounded  on  the  east  by  the  ocean  in  which,  at  the  Last  Day, 
the  elect  will  wash  away  all  those  sins  which  have  not  as  yet 
been  purged  away  by  repentance. 

On  leaving  this  garden  of  delights,  Adam  turned  to  take  of 
it  one  last  look.  He  saw  that  the  Tree  which  had  caused  his 
fall  was  cursed  and  had  withered  away. 

He  was  much  surprised  when  night  overtook  him,  for  in 
Paradise  he  had  not  known  darkness.  As  he  went  along  his 
way,  shedding  tears,  he  overtook  the  serpent  gliding  over  the 
ground,  and  licking  the  dust.  That  serpent  he  had  last  seen 
on  four  feet,  very  beautiful,  with  the  hair  of  a  young  maiden, 
enamelled  with  brilliant  colors.  Now  it  was  vile,  hideous,  and 
grovelling.  The  beasts  which,  before  the  Fall,  had  coveted  its 
society,  fled  from  it  now  with  loathing. 

Filled  with  rage  at  the  sight  of  Adam  and  Eve,  to  whom  it 
attributed  its  present  degradation,  the  serpent  flew  at  them  and 
prostrated  them.  Thereupon  God  removed  from  it  its  sole  re¬ 
maining  possession — the  gift  of  speech,  and  it  was  left  only  its 
hi  is  of  rage  and  shame. 

Adam  soon  felt  exhaustion,  heat,  fear  and  pain  ; — afflictions 
he  had  not  known  in  Eden.  As  the  shadows  of  night  fell,  an 
intense  horror  overwhelmed  the  guilty  pair;  they  trembled  in 
every  limb  and  cried  to  God.  The  Almighty,  in  compassion, 
consoled  them  by  announcing  to  them  that  day  would  return 
after  twelve  hours  of  night.  They  were  relieved  by  this  prom¬ 
ise,  and  they  spent  the  first  night  in  prayer. 

But  Satan,  who  never  lost  sight  of  them,  fearing  lest  then 


ADAM  AND  EVE  AFTER  THE  FALL. 


57 


prayers  should  wholly  appease  the  divine  justice,  assembled  his 
host  of  evil  angels,  surrounded  himself  with  a  brilliant  light, 
and  stood  at  the  entrance  of  the  cave  where  the  banished  ones 
prayed.  He  hoped  that  Adam  would  mistake  him  for  God, 
and  prostrate  himself  before  him. 

But  Adam  said  to  Eve  :  “Observe  this  great  light  and  this 
multitude  of  spirits.  If  it  were  God  who  sent  them,  they 
would  enter  and  tell  us  their  message.”  Adam  did  not  know 
then  that  Satan  cannot  approach  those  who  pray.  Then  Adam 
addressed  himself  to  God  and  said,  “  O  my  God !  is  there  an¬ 
other  God  but  Thou,  who  can  create  angels  and  send  them  to 
us  ?  Lord,  deign  to  instruct  us  !  ” 

Then  a  heavenly  angel  entered  the  cavern  and  said, 
“  Adam,  fear  not  those  whom  you  see  ;  it  is  Satan  and  his 
host  He  sought  to  seduce  you  again  to  your  fall.” 

Having  thus  spoken,  the  angel  fell  upon  Satan  and  tore 
from  off  him  his  disguise,  and  exposed  him  in  his  hideous 
nakedness  to  Adam  and  Eve.  And  to  console  them  for  this 
trial,  God  sent  Adam  gold  rings,  incense  and  myrrh,  and  said 
to  him,  “  Preserve  these  things,  and  they  will  give  you  at  night 
light  and  fragrance  ;  and  when  I  shall  come  down  on  earth  to 
save  you,  clothed  in  human  flesh,  kings  shall  bring  me  these 
three  tokens.” 

It  is  because  of  this  present  that  the  cavern  into  which 
Adam  and  Eve  retreated  has  been  called  the  Treasure-cave. 

Adam  and  Eve,  greatly  cheered,  blessed  the  Lord,  and 
thanked  him  for  his  goodness,  and  resolved  to  continue  their 
repentance. 

A  short  time  after  they  committed  a  fault.  Satan  present¬ 
ed  himself  to  them  under  the  form  of  an  angel  of  light,  and  an¬ 
nounced  that  he  was  commissioned  by  the  Most  High  to  lead 
them  to  the  brink  of  the  River  of  the  Water  of  Life,  into  which 
they  were  to  plunge  and  wash  away  their  sin. 

They  believed,  and  followed  him  by  a  strange  road,  and  he 
led  them  to  the  edge  of  a  precipice,  down  which  he  endeav¬ 
ored  to  fling  them  ;  for,  he  thought,  were  he  to  destroy  the  man 
and  the  woman,  he  would  be  supreme  in  the  world  God  had 
made.  But  the  Almighty  rescued  Adam  and  Eve,  and  drave 
Satan  from  them. 

To  punish  themselves  for  their  involuntary  fault,  Adam  and 
Eve  separated,  so  as  not  to  see  one  another,  and  resolve  to 
spend  forty  days  up  to  their  necks  in  the  sea. 

3*  ' 


58  OLD  TES  TA  ME  N’T  CHARACTERS. 

Before  parting,  Adam  said  to  his  wife,  “  Remain  in  the 
water  here,  and  do  not  quit  it  till  I  return,  and  spend  your 
time  in  praying  the  Lord  to  pardon  us.” 

Now,  whilst  they  were  undergoing  this  penance,  Satan  cast 
about  how  he  might  bring  to  naught  our  first  parents,  and  he 
sought  them  but  could  not  find  them,  till  on  the  thirty-fifth 
day  of  their  penance  he  perceived  the  two  heads  above  the 
water  ;  then  he  knew  at  once  what  was  their  intention,  and 
he  resolved  to  frustrate  it.  So  he  took  upon  him  the  form 
of  an  angel  of  Heaven,  and  flew  over  the  sea  singing  praises 
to  God  ;  and  when  he  came  to  the  place  where  Eve  was,  he 
cried,  “  Joy,  joy  to  thee  !  God  is  with  thee,  and  he  has  sent 
me  to  bring  thee  to  Adam  to  announce  to  him  that  he  has 
found  favor  with  the  Most  High.” 

Eve  instantly  scrambled  out  of  the  water,  and  followed 
Satan  to  Adam,  and  the  Evil  One  placed  her  before  her  hus¬ 
band,  and  vanished.  When  Adam  saw  his  wife,  he  was  filled 
with  dismay,  and  beat  his  breast  and  wept.  When  she  told 
him  why  she  was  there,  he  knew  that  the  great  Enemy  had 
been  again  at  his  work  of  deception,  and  he  fell  into  despair. 
But  a  voice  from  Heaven  bade  him  return  with  Eve  to  the 
Treasure-cave. 

Hunger,  thirst,  cold,  and  prayer  had  completely  exhausted 
the  pair,  and  Adam  cried  to  the  Lord,  “  O  God,  my  Creator  ! 
Thou  hastgiven  me  reason  and  an  enlightened  heart.  When 
Thou  didst  forbid  me  to  eat  of  the  fruit  of  the  Tree,  Eve  was 
not  yet  made,  and  she  did  not  hear  Thy  command  ;  in  Eden 
we  hungered  not,  nor  felt  thirst  or  pain  or  fatigue.  All  this 
have  we  lost.  And  now  we  dare  not  touch  the  fruit  of  the 
trees  or  drink  of  water  without  Thy  command.  Our  bodies 
are  exhausted,  our  strength  is  gone  ;  grant  us  wherewith  to 
satisfy  our  hunger,  and  to  quench  our  thirst.” 

God  ordered  the  Cherubim  who  kept  the  gate  of  Eden,  to 
carry  to  Adam  two  figs  from  the  tree  under  which  our  first 
parents  had  concealed  themselves  after  the  Fall. 

“Take,”  said  the  Cherubim,  presenting  the  figs  to  them, 
“  take  the  fruit  of  the  tree  whose  leaves  covered  your  shame.” 

“  Oh  !  ”  cried  Adam,  “  may  God  grant  us  some  of  the  fruit 
of  the  Tree  of  Life.” 

But  God  answered,  “  I  will  give  unto  you  this  fruit  and  liv¬ 
ing  water,  to  you  and  to  your  descendants,  on  that  day  that  I 
shall  descend  into  the  abode  of  death  and  shall  break  the 


ADAM  AND  EVE  AFTER  THE  FAIL. 


$9 


gates  of  iron  in  sunder,  to  bring  you  forth  into  my  garden  of 
pleasures.  That  which  you  ask  of  Me  shall  take  place  at  the 
expiration  of  five  long  days  and  a  half  (/.  e.  5,500  years),  after 
that  my  blood  has  flowed  upon  thy  head,  O  Adam,  upon  Gol 
gotha.” 

Adam  and  Eve  took  the  figs,  which  were  very  heavy,  for  the 
fruits  of  the  earthly  paradise  were  much  larger  than  the  fruit 
of  this  outer  world  in  which  we  live.  And  when  they  were 
about  to  enter  into  the  Cave  of  Treasures,  they  saw  there  a 
great  fire  ;  this  mightily  astonished  them,  for  as  yet  they  had 
not  seen  fire  except  in  the  flaming  sword  of  the  Cherub.  Now 
this  fire  which  surprised  them  was  the  work  of  Satan  ;  he  had 
collected  branches  and  had  fired  them  in  the  hope  of  burning 
down  the  cavern  and  driving  Adam  to  despair. 

The  fire  lasted  till  the  morrow  ;  Satan,  without  showing 
himself,  keeping  it  supplied  with  fresh  fuel.  Adam  and  Eve 
did  not  venture  to  approach,  but  recommended  themselves  to 
God  ;  and  the  Evil  One,  finding  that  his  plan  had  failed,  let 
the  fire  die  out  and  departed. 

Adam  and  Eve  slept  the  following  night  at  the  foot  of  a 
mountain  near  their  lost  Eden.  Satan  beholding  them,  said, 
“  God  has  made  a  compact  with  Adam,  whom  he  desires  to 
save,  but  I  will  slay  him,  and  the  earth  shall  be  mine.” 

He  therefore  summoned  his  attendant  angels,  and  they  dis¬ 
lodged  a  huge  rock  from  the  mountain  and  hurled  it  upon  the 
sleepers.  But  as  this  mass  was  bounding  down  the  flank  of 
the  mountain,  and  was  in  mid-air  in  one  of  its  leaps,  God  ar¬ 
rested  it  above  the  heads  of  the  sleepers,  and  it  sheltered  them 
from  the  dews  of  night. 

Adam  and  Eve  awoke  greatly  troubled  by  their  dreams,  and 
they  asked  of  God  garments  to  cover  their  naked  bodies,  for 
they  suffered  from  the  scorching  sun  by  day,  and  the  frost  by 
night.  God  replied,  “  Go  to  the  shore  of  the  sea ;  you  will 
there  find  the  skins  of  sheep  which  have  been  devoured  by 
lions  :  of  them  make  to  yourselves  raiment.” 

Satan  heard  the  words  of  God,  and  he  outran  our  first  pa¬ 
rents,  that  he  might  secure  the  skins  and  destroyed  them,  in  the 
hopes  that  Adam  and  Eve,  finding  no  hides,  would  doubt  God 
and  think  that  he  had  failed  in  His  word.  But  God  fastened  Sa¬ 
tan  in  his  naked  hideousness  beside  the  skins,  immovable,  till 
Adam  and  Eve  arrived,  when  he  addressed  them  in  these 
terms  :  “  Behold  him  who  has  seduced  you  ;  see  what  has  be 


6o 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


come  of  his  beauty.  After  having  made  you  such  promises, 
he  was  about  to  rob  you  of  these  hides.”  Adam  and  Eve  took 
the  skins  and  made  of  them  garments.  A  few  days  after,  God 
said  to  them,  “  Go  to  the  west  till  you  arrive  at  a  black  land  ; 
there  you  will  find  food.”  They  obeyed,  and  they  saw  corn 
full  ripe,  and  God  inspired  Adam  with  knowledge  how  to  make 
bread.  But  not  having  sickles  they  tore  the  corn  up  by  the 
roots,  and  having  made  a  rick  of  it,  they  slept,  expecting  to 
thrash  it  out  and  grind  it  on  the  morrow.  But  Satan  fired  this 
rick  and  reduced  their  harvest  to  ashes. 

Whilst  they  wept  and  lamented,  Satan  came  to  them  as  an 
angel,  and  said,  “This  is  the  work  of  your  Enemy  the  Fiend, 
but  God  has  sent  me  to  bring  .you  into  a  field  where  you  will 
find  better  corn.” 

They  followed  him,  nothing  doubting,  and  he  led  them  for 
eight  days,  and  they  fainted  with  exhaustion  and  were  foot-sore. 
Then  he  left  them  in  an  unknown  land  ;  but  God  was  their 
protector,  He  brought  them  back  to  their  harvest  and  restored 
their  rick  of  corn,  and  they  made  bread  and  offered  to  God  the 
first  sacrifice.1 

But  enough  of  this  apocryphal  work,  which  contains  a 
string  of  absurd  tricks  played  by  Satan  on  our  first  parents, 
which  are  invariably  defeated  by  God  ;  of  these  the  specimens 
given  above  are  sufficient. 

A  curious  legend  exists  among  the  Sclavonic  nations  by 
which  the  existence  of  elves  is  accounted  for.  It  is  said  that 
Adam  had  by  his  wife  Eve,  thirty  sons  and  thirty  daughters. 
God  asked  him,  one  day,  the  number  of  his  children.  Adam 
was  ashamed  of  having  so  many  girls,  so  he  answered,  “  Thirty 
sons  and  twenty-seven  daughters.”  But  from  the  eye  of  God 
nothing  can  be  concealed,  and  He  took  from  among  Adam’s 
daughters  the  three  fairest,  and  He  made  them  Willis,  or 
elves ;  they  were  good  and  holy,  and  therefore  did  not  perish 
in  the  Deluge,  but  entered  with  Noah  into  the  ark  and  were 
saved. 

The  story  of  Adam’s  penitence,  as  told  by  Tabari,  is  as 
follows  : — 

The  moment  that  Adam  fell  out  of  Paradise  and  touched 
the  ground  on  the  mountains  in  the  centre  of  Ceylon,  he  un 
derstood  in  all  its  magnitude  the  greatness  of  his  loss  and  his  , 

1  Dillman,  Das  Adambuch  des  Morgenlandes  ;  Gottingen,  1853.  This 
book  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  the  Testament  of  Adam. 


ADAM  AND  EVE  AFTER  THE  FALL. 


61 


sin.  He  remained  stupefied  with  his  face  on  the  earth,  and 
did  not  raise  it,  but  allowed  his  tears  to  flow  upon  and  soak 
into  the  soil.  For  a  hundred  years  he  remained  in  this  posi¬ 
tion,  and  his  tears  formed  a  stream  which  rolled  down  the 
mountain,  which  still  flows  from  Adam’s  Peak  in  the  island 
of  Ceylon,  and  gives  their  virtue  to  the  healing  plants  and 
fragrant  trees  which  there  flourish,  and  are  exported  for  me¬ 
dicinal  purposes. 

When  a  hundred  years  had  elapsed,  God  had  compassion 
on  Adam,  and  sent  Gabriel  to  him,  who  said,  “  God  salutes 
thee,  O  Adam  !  and  He  bids  me  say  to  thee.  Did  I  not  create 
thee  out  of  the  earth  by  My  will  ?  Did  I  not  give  thee  Para 
dise  to  be  thine  abode  ?  Why  these  tears  and  sighs  ?  ” 

Adam  replied,  “  How  shall  I  not  weep,  and  how  shall  I 
abstain  from  sighing  ?  Have  I  not  lost  the  protection  of  God, 
and  have  I  not  disobeyed  His  will?” 

Gabriel  said,  “  Do  not  afflict  thyself.  Recite  the  words  I 
shall  teach  thee,  and  God  will  grant  thee  repentance  which  He 
will  accept,”  as  it  is  written  in  the  Koran,  “  Adam  learnt  of 
His  Lord  words ;  and  the  Lord  returned  to  Him,  for  He  is 
merciful,  and  He  returns.”  Adam  recited  these  words,  and  in 
the  joy  he  felt  at  the  prospect  of  finding  mercy,  he  wept,  and 
his  joyous  tears  watered  the  earth,  and  from  them  sprang  up 
the  narcissus  and  the  ox-eye.  s 

Then  said  Adam  to  Gabriel,  “  What  shall  I  now  do  ?  ” 

And  Gabriel  gave  to  Adam  wheat-grains  from  out  of  Para¬ 
dise,  the  fruit  of  the  Forbidden  Tree,  and  he  bade  him  sow  it, 
and  he  said.  “  This  shall  be  thy  food  in  future.” 

Afterwards,  Gabriel  taught  Adam  to  draw  iron  out  of  the 
reck  and  to  make  instruments  of  husbandry.  And  all  that 
Adam  sowed  sprang  up  in  the  self-same  hour  that  it  was  sown, 
for  the  blessing  of  God  was  upon  it.  And  Adam  reaped  and 
thrashed  and  winnowed.  Then  Gabriel  bade  him  take  two 
stones  from  the  mountain,  and  he  taught  him  with  them  to 
grind  the  corn ;  and  when  he  had  made  flour,  he  said  to  the 
angel,  “  Shall  I  eat  now  ?  ”  But  Gabriel  answered,  “  Not  so ;  ” 
and  he  showed  him  how  to  build  an  oven  of  iron.  It  was 
from  this  oven  that  the  water  of  the  deluge  at  Koufa  flowed. 
He  taught  him  also  to  make  dough  and  to  bake. 

But  Adam  was  hungry,  and  he  said,  “  Let  me  eat  now,”  and 
the  angel  stayed  him,  and  answered,  “  Tarry  till  the  bread  be 
cold  and  stale,”  but  he  would  not,  but  ate.  Therefore  he 


6a 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


suffered  from  pain  in  his  belly.  Next,  Gabriel  by  the  com¬ 
mand  of  Allah  brought  out  of  Eden  the  ox  and  fruit  ;  of  these 
latter  there  were  ten  kinds  whose  exterior  was  edible,  but 
whose  insides  were  useless  to  eat,  such  as  the  apricot,  the 
peach  and  the  date.  And  there  were  three  that  could  not  be 
eaten  anyhow.  Then  he  brought  ten  more  whose  insides  and 
outsides  might  be  eaten,  such  as  the  grape,  the  fig,  and  the 
apple.  Said  Gabriel  to  Adam,  “  Sow  these,”  and  he  sowed 
them.  These  are  the  trees  that  the  angel  brought  out  of  Par¬ 
adise. 

Now  Adam  was  all  alone  on  the  peak  in  the  midst  of  Cey¬ 
lon,  and  his  head  was  in  the  first  heaven.  The  sun  burnt 
him,  so  that  all  his  hair  fell  off ;  and  God,  in  compassion,  bade 
Gabriel  pass  his  wing  over  Adam’s  head,  and  Adam  there¬ 
upon  shrank  to  the  height  of  sixty  cubits.  And  then  he  could 
no  longer  hear  the  voices  of  the  angels  in  heaven,  and  he  was 
sore  distressed. 

Then  God  said  to  him,  “  I  have  made  this  world  thy  prison, 
but  I  send  to  thee  out  of  heaven  a  house  of  rubies,  in  order 
that  thou  mayest  enter  in  and  walk  round  it,  and  therein  find 
repose  for  thy  heart.” 

Thereupon  out  of  heaven  descended  “  the  visited  house,” 
and  it  was  placed  where  now  stands  the  temple  of  Mecca. 
The  black  stone  which  is  there  was  originally  white  and  shin¬ 
ing.  It  was  placed  in  the  ruby  house.  Whosoever  looked  in 
that  direction  from  ten  parasangs  off,  could  see  the  light  of  that 
house  shining  like  a  fire  up  to  the  heaven,  and  in  the  midst  of 
that  red  light  shone  the  white  stone  like  a  star. 

Afterwards,  Gabriel  conducted  Adam  to  that  house  that 
he  might  go  in  procession  round  it.  All  the  places  where  his 
foot  was  planted  became  verdant  oases,  with  rivers  of  water 
and  many  flowers  and  trees,  but  all  the  tract  between  was 
barren. 

Gabriel  taught  Adam  how  to  make  the  pilgrimage  ;  and  if 
any  one  now  goes  there  without  knowing  the  ceremonies,  he 
needs  a  guide. 

Then  Adam  met  with  Eve  again,  and  they  rejoiced  togc  ther ; 
and  she  went  back  with  him  to  Ceylon.  Now  at  that  time 
there  was  in  the  world  no  other  pair  than  Adam  and  Eve,  and 
no  other  house  than  the  mansion  of  rubies. 

Now  Eblis  had  made  his  prayer  to  Allah  that  he  might  be 
allowed  to  live  till  Israfiel  should  sound  the  last  trumpet 


ADAM  AND  EVE  AFTER  THE  FALL. 


63 


And  he  asked  this,  because  those  who  are  alive  when  that 
trumpet  sounds,  shall  not  die  any  more,  for  Death  will  be 
brought  in,  in  the  shape  of  a  sheep,  and  will  be  slaughtered  ; 
and  when  Death  is  slaughtered,  no  one  will  be  able  to  die. 

And  God  said,  “  I  give  thee  the  time  till  all  creatures  must 
die.” 

Then  Eblis  said,  “  Just  as  Thou  didst  turn  me  out  of  the 
right  way,  so  shall  I  pervert  those  whom  Thou  hast  made.” 
Satan  went  to  man  and  said  to  him,  “  God  has  driven  me  out 
of  Paradise,  never  to  return  there,  and  He  has  taken  from  me 
the  sovereignty  of  this  world  to  give  it  to  thee.  Why  should 
we  not  be  friends  and  associate  together,  and  I  can  advise 
thee  on  thy  concerns  ?  ” 

And  Adam  thought  to  himself,  “  I  must  be  the  companion 
of  this  one,  but  I  will  make  use  of  him.”  So  he  suffered  him 
to  be  his  comrade. 

The  first  act  of  treachery  he  did  was  this. 

Every  child  Adam  had  by  Eve  died  when  born.  Eve  be¬ 
came  pregnant  for  the  fourth  time,  and  Eblis  said  to  Adam, 
“  I  believe  this  child  will  be  good-looking  and  will  live.” 

“  I  am  of  the  same  opinion,”  answered  Adam. 

“  If  my  prophecy  turns  out  right,”  said  .the  Evil  One, 
“  give  the  child  to  me.” 

“  I  will  give  it,”  said  Adam. 

Now  the  child,  when  born,  was  very  fair  to  look  upon, 
and  Adam,  though  he  repented  of  his  rash  promise,  did  not 
venture  to  break  his  word  ;  so  he  gave  the  child  to  Eblis, 
that  is  to  say,  he  named  it  Abd-el-Hareth,  or  servant  of 
Hareth,  instead  of  Abd-Allah,  Servant  of  God.  And  after 
living  two  years  it  died.1 

Thus  Satan  became  an  associate  in  the  affairs  of  man. 

But  others  tell  the  conclusion  of  the  story  somewhat  differ¬ 
ently.  They  say  that  the  child  Abd-el-Hareth  became  the 
progenitor  of  the  whole  race  of  Satyrs,  nightmares,  and  hob¬ 
goblins. 

Maimonides  says  that  the  Sabians  attribute  to  Adam  the 
introduction  of  the  worship  of  the  moon,  on  which  account 
they  call  him  the  prophet  or  apostle  of  the  moon.2 

A  large  number  of  books  are  attributed  to  Adam.  The 

1  Tabari,  i.,  capp.  xxviii,  xxix. 

2  In  More  Nevochun,  quoted  by  Fabricius,  i.  p.  5. 


64 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


passage  in  Genesis,  Tfiis  is  the  Book  of  the  generations  of  Adam? 
led  many  to  suppose  that  Moses  quoted  from  a  book  written 
by  our  first  parent.  That  such  an  apocryphal  book  did  exist 
in  after-times,  appears  from  the  fact  of  Pope  Gelasius  in  his 
decrees  rejecting  it  as  spurious.  He  speaks  of  it  as  “  the  book 
which  is  called  the  Book  of  the  generations  of  Adam  or  Gene- 
secs.”  And  the  Rabbis  say  that  this  book  was  written  b) 
Adam,  after  he  had  seen  all  his  posterity  brought  out  before 
him,  as  already  related.  And  this  book,  they  say,  Adam  gave 
to  Enoch.* 

Beside  this,  there  existed  an  Apocalypse  of  Adam,  which 
Is  mentioned  by  S.  Epiphanius,  who  quotes  a  passage  from  it, 
in  which  Adam  describes  the  Tree  of  Life,  which  produced 
twelve  kinds  of  fruit  every  year.3  And  George  Syncellus,  in 
his  Chronicle,  extracts  a  portion  of  an  apocryphal  Life  of  Adam. 

Amongst  the  Revelations  of  S.  Amadeus  are  found  two 
psalms,  which,  in  vision,  he  heard  had  been  composed  by  Adam. 
One  was  on  the  production  of  Eve,  the  other  is  a  hymn  of  re¬ 
pentance,  a  joint  composition  of  the  two  outcasts.  It  runs  as 
follows : — 

Adam. — “  Adonai,  my  Lord  God,  have  mercy  upon  me  for 
Thy  great  goodness,  and  according  to  the  multitude  of  Thy 
mercies  do  away  my  transgressions.  I  am  bowed  down  with 
trouble,  Thy  waves  and  storms  have  gone  over  me.  Deliver 
me,  O  God,  and  save  me  from  the  flood  of  many  waters.  Hear 
my  words,  O  Heavens,  and  all  ye  that  dwell  in  them.  May 
the  angels  bear  up  all  my  thoughts  and  words  to  Thee,  and 
may  the  celestial  virtues  declare  them.  May  the  Lord  bend 
His  compassionate  ear  to  my  lowly  petition.  May  He  hear 
my  prayer,  and  let  the  cry  of  my  heart  reach  Him.  Thou,  O 
God,  art  the  true  and  most  brilliant  light ;  all  other  lights  are 
mingled  with  darkness.  Thou  art  the  sun  that  knowest  no 
down-setting,  that  dwellest  in  inaccessible  light.  Thou  art 
the  end  to  which  all  fleih  come.  Thou  art  the  only  satisfac- 
.  tion  of  all  the  blessed," 

Eve. — “  Adonai,  I  ,ord  God,  have  mercy  upon  me  for  Thy 
great  goodness,  and  for  the  multitude  of  Thy  mercies  do  away 
my  transgressions.  Thou  before  all  things  didst  create  the  im¬ 
movable  heaven  as  a  holy  and  exalted  home,  and  Thou  didst 
adorn  it  with  angel  spirits,  to  whom  Thou  didst  in  goodness 


1  Gen  v.  i. 


*  Fabricius,  i.  p.  If. 


8  Adv.  Haeresi,  c.  5 


ADAM  AND  EVE  AFTER  THE  FALL. 


65 


declare  thy  purposes.  They  were  the  bright  morning  stars 
who  sang  to  Thee  through  ages  of  ages.  Thou  didst  form 
the  movable  heaven  and  Thou  didst  set  in  it  the  watery  clouds. 
Those  waters  are  under  the  immovable  heaven,  and  are  above 
all  that  live  and  move.  Thou  didst  create  the  light ;  the  beau¬ 
teous  sun,  the  moon  with  the  five  planets  didst  Thou  place  in 
the  midst,  and  .didst  fix  the  signs  and  constellations.  Thou 
didst  produce  four  elements,  and  didst  kindle  all  with  Thy 
wisdom.” 

Ada?n. — “  Adonai,  Lord  God,  have  mercy  upon  me  for  Thy 
great  goodness,  and  for  the  multitude  of  Thy  mercies  do  away 
my  transgressions.  Thou  hast  cast  out  the  proud  and  rebel 
dragon  with  Thy  mighty  arm.  Thou  hast  put  down  the 
mighty  from  their  seat  and  hast  exalted  the  humble  and 
meek.  Thou  hast  filled  the  hungry  with  good  things,  and  the 
rich  Thou  hast  sent  empty  away.  Thou  didst  fashion  me  in 
Thine  own  image  of  the  dust  of  earth,  and  destine  me,  mortal, 
to  be  immortal ;  and  me,  frail,  to  endure.  Thou  didst  lead  me 
into  the  place  of  life  and  joy,  and  didst  surround  me  with  all 
good  things ;  Thou  didst  put  all  things  under  my  feet,  and 
didst  reveal  to  me  Thy  great  name,  Adonai.  Thou  didst  give 
me  Eve,  to  be  a  help  meet  for  me,  whom  Thou  didst  draw  from 
my  side.” 

Adam. — “  Adonai,  Lord  and  God,  have  mercy  upon  me  for 
Thy  great  goodness,  and  for  the  multitude  of  Thy  mercies  do 
away  my  transgressions ;  for  Thou  hast  made  me  the  head  of 
all  men.  Thou  hast  inspired  me  and  my  consort  with  Thy 
wisdom,  and  hast  given  us  a  free  will  and  placed  our  lot  in 
our  own  hands.  But  thou  hast  given  us  precepts  and  laws, 
and  hast  placed  life  and  death  before  us  that  we  might  keep 
Thy  commandments,  and  in  keeping  them  find  life ;  but  if  we 
keep  them  not,  we  shall  die.  Lucifer,  the  envious  one,  saw  and 
envied  He  fought  against  us  and  prevailed.  Conquered  by 
angels,  he  conquered  man,  and  subjugated  all  his  race.  1 
have  sinned.  I  am  he  who  have  committed  iniquity.  It  I 
had  refused  in  my  free  will,  neither  Eve  nor  the  Enemy  could 
have  obtained  my  destruction  But  being  in  honor  I  had  no 
understanding  and  I  lost  my  dignity.  I  am  like  to  the  cattle, 
the  horse,  and  the  mule,  which  have  no  understanding.” 

Eve. — “  Adonai,  Lord  and  God,  have  mercy  upon  me  for 
Thy  great  goodness,  and  for  the  multitude  of  Thy  mercies  do 
away  mine  olfences.  Great  is  our  God,  and  great  is  His  mer 


66 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


cy  ;  His  goodness  is  unmeasured.  He  will  supply  the  remedy 
to  our  sin,  that  if  we  will  to  rise,  we  may  be  able  to  arise ; 
He  has  appointed  His  Son,  the  glorifier  of  all,  and  our  Re¬ 
deemer  ;  and  He  has  appointed  the  Holy  Mother  to  be  our 
mediatrix,  in  whose  image  He  has  built  me,  Eve,  the  mothei 
of  all  flesh.  He  has  fashioned  the  Mother  after  the  likeness 
of  her  daughter.  He  has  made  the  father  after  the  image  a  id 
likeness  of  His  Son ;  and  He  will  blot  out  our  transgressions 
for  His  merits,  if  we  yield  our  wills  thereto,  and  receive  His 
sacraments.  He  will  receive  a  free-will  offering,  and  He  will 
not  despise  a  contrite  heart.  To  those  going  towards  Him,  i  le 
will  fly  with  welcome,  He  will  pardon  their  offences  and  will 
crown  them  with  glory. ” 

Adam. — “  Adonai,  Lord  and  God,  have  mercy  upon  me  for 
Thy  great  goodness,  and  for  the  multitude  of  Thy  mercies  do 
away  mine  offences.  O  God,  great  is  the  abundance  of  Thy 
sweetness.  Blessed  are  all  they  that  hope  in  Thee.  After  the 
darkness  Thou  bringest  in  the  light ;  and  pain  is  converted 
into  joy.  Thou  repayest  a  thousand  for  a  hundred,  and  for  a 
thousand  thou  givest  ten  thousand.  For  the  least  things,  Thou 
rewardest  with  the  greatest  things ;  and  for  temporal  joys,  Thou 
givest  those  that  are  eternal.  Blessed  are  they  that  keep  Thy 
statutes,  and  bend  their  necks  to  Thy  yoke.  They  shall  dwell 
in  Thy  Tabernacle  and  rest  upon  Thy  holy  hill.  They  shall  be 
denizens  of  Thy  courts  with  Thee,  whose  roots  shine  above 
gold  and  precious  stones.  Blessed  are  they  who  believe  in  the 
triune  God,  and  will  to  know  His  ways.  We  all  sing,  Glory  to 
the  Father,  and  to  the  Son,  and  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  we 
magnify  our  God.  As  in  the  beginning  the  angels  sang,  so 
shall  we  now  and  ever,  and  in  ages  of  ages.  Amen.” 1 

Manasseh  Ben-Israel  has  preserved  a  prophecy  of  Adam, 
that  the  world  is  to  ast  seven  thousand  years.  He  says  this 
secret  was  handed  down  from  Adam  to  Enoch,  and  from  Enoch 
to  Noah,  and  from  Noah  to  Shem.2 

At  Hebron  is  a  cave,  “  which,”  says  an  old  traveller, 
“  Christians  and  Turks  point  out  as  having  been  the  place 
where  Adam  and  Eve  bewailed  their  sins  for  a  hundred  years. 
This  spot  is  towards  the  west,  in  a  valley,  about  a  hundred 
paces  from  the  Damascene  field  ;  it  is  a  dark  grotto,  not  very 


ADAM  AND  EVE  AFTER  THE  FALL. 


67 


long  or  broad,  very  low,  in  a  hard  rock,  and  not  apparently 
artificial,  but  natural.  This  valley  is  called  La  valle  dd  La- 
grime ,  the  Vale  of  Tears,  as  they  shed  such  copious  tears  over 
their  transgressions.”  1 

Abu  Mohammed  Mustapha  Ben-Alschit  Hasen,  in  his  Uni¬ 
versal  History,  says  that  Adam’s  garment  of  fig-leaves,  in  which 
he  went  out  of  Eden,  was  left  by  him,  when  he  fell,  on  Adam’s 
Peak  in  Ceylon.  There  it  dried  to  dust,  and  the  dust  was 
scattered  by  the  wind  over  the  island,  and  from  this  sprang 
the  odoriferous  plants  which  grow  there.' 

Adam  is  said  to  have  not  gone  altogether  empty-handed 
out  of  Paradise.  Hottinger,  in  his  Oriental  History,  quoting 
Jewish  authorities,  says  :  “  Adam  having  gone  into  the  land  of 
Babel,  took  with  him  many  wonderful  things,  amongst  others 
a  tree  with  flowers,  leaves  and  branches  of  gold,  also  a  stone 
tree,  also  the  leaves  of  a  tree  so  strong  that  they  were  incon¬ 
sumable  in  fire,  and  so  large  as  to  be  able  to  shelter  under 
them  ten  thousand  men  of  the  stature  of  Adam  ;  and  he  car¬ 
ried  about  with  him  two  of  these  leaves,  of  which  one  would 
shelter  two  men  or  clothe  them.”  3  Of  these  trees  we  read  in 
the  Gemara  that  the  Rabbi  Canaan  asked  of  the  Rabbi  Simon, 
son  of  Assa,  who  had  gone  to  see  them,  whether  this  was  true. 
He  was  told  in  reply  that  it  was  so,  and  that  at  the  time  of  the 
Captivity  the  Jews  had  seated  themselves  under  these  trees, 
and  in  their  shadow  had  found  consolation. 

But  Palestine  seems  also  to  have  possessed  some  of  the  trees 
of  Adam’s  planting,  for  Jacob  Vitriacus  in  his  Jewish  History 
says :  “There  are  in  that  land  wonderful  trees,  which  for  their 
pre-excellence  are  called  Apples  of  Paradise,  bearing  oblong 
fruit,  very  sweet  and  unctuous,  having  a  most  delicious  savor, 
bearing  in  one  cluster  more  than  a  hundred  compressed  ber¬ 
ries.  The  leaves  of  this  tree  are  a  cubit  long  and  half  a  cubit 
wide.  There  are  three  other  trees  producing  beautiful  apples 
or  citrons,  in  which  the  bite  of  a  man’s  teeth  is  naturally  mani¬ 
fest,  wherefore  they  are  called  Adam’s  Apples.”4  Hottinger 
says  that  at  Tripoli  grows  a  tree  called  Almaus,  or  Adam's  ap- 
pie,  with  a  green  head,  and  leaves  like  outspread  fingers,  no 
branches,  but  only  leaves,  and  with  a  fruit  like  a  bean-pod,  of 


68 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


delicious  flavor,  and  an  odor  of  roses  Buntingius,  in  his 
Itinerary,  describes  an  Adam’s  apple  which  he  tasted  at  Alex¬ 
andria,  and  he  said  the  taste  was  like  pears,. and  the  clusters 
of  prodigious  size,  with  twenty  in  each  cluster,  like  magnifi¬ 
cent  bunches  of  grapes  But  the  most  remarkable  fact  about 
them  was  that,  if  one  of  the  fruit  were  cut  with  a  knife,  the  figure 
of  a  crucifix  was  found  to  be  contained  in  it.1  And  this  tree  was 
supposed  to  have  been  the  forbidden  tree,  and  the  fruit  to  hare 
thus  brought  hope  as  it  also  brought  death  to  the  eater.  Ni- 
der,  “In  Formicario,”  also  relates  that  this  fruit,  thus  marked 
with  the  form  of  the  Crucified,  grows  in  Granada.2 

“  At  Beyrut)  of  which  S.  Nicodemus  was  the  first  bishop,” 
writes  the  Friar,  Ignatius  von  Rheinfelden,  “I  saw  a  wonderful 
fruit  which  is  called  by  the  Arabs,  Mauza,  and  by  the  Chris¬ 
tians  Adam’s  fig.  This  fruit  grows  upon  a  trunk  in  clusters  of 
fifty  or  more,  and  hangs  down  towards  the  ground  on  account 
of  its  weight.  The  fruit  is  in  shape  something  like  a  cucumber, 
and  is  a  span  long,  yellow,  and  tasting  something  like  figs. 
The  Christians  of  those  parts  say  it  is  the  fruit  of  which  Adam 
and  Eve  ate  in  Paradise,  and  they  argue  thus :  first,  there  are 
no  apples  in  those  parts ;  secondly,  Jerome  translated  the 
word  in  the  Bible,  Mauza  ;  thirdly,  if  the  fruit  be  cut,  within  it 
is  seen  the  figure  of  a  crucifix,  and  they  conclude  thereby  that 
the  first  parents  were  showed  by  this  figure  how  their  sin 
would  be  atoned  ;  fourthly,  the  leaves  being  three  ells  long  and 
half  an  ell  wide,  were  admirably  adapted  to  make  skirts  of, 
when  Adam  and  Eve  were  conscious  of  their  nakedness.  And 
Holy  Scripture  says  nothing  of  apples,  but  says  merely — fruit. 
But  whether  this  was  the  fruit  or  not,  I  leave  others  to  de¬ 
cide.”  s 

Adam  is  said  by  the  Easterns  to  have  received  from  Ra¬ 
phael  a  magic  ring,  which  became  his  symbol,  and  which  he 
handed  down  to  his  descendants  selected  to  know  and  read  mys¬ 
teries.  This  was  no  other  than  the  “  crux  ansata,”  or  handled 
cross,  so  common  on  Egyptian  monuments  as  the  hieroglyph 
of  Life  out  of  death.  The  circle  symbolized  the  apple,  and 
thus  the  Carthusian  emblem,  which  bears  the  motto  “  Stat  crux 
dum  volvitur  orbis,”  is  in  reality  the  mystic  symbol  of  Adam. 
*  Which,”  says  the  Arabic  philosopher,  Ibn-ephi,  “Mizraim  re- 

1  As  King  Charles’s  Oak  may  be  seen  in  the  fern -root. 

*  Fabricius,  i.  p.  84. 

8  Neue  Ierosolymitanische  Pilgerfahrt.  Wiirtzburg,  1667,  yv  4 , 


CAIN  AND  ABEL. 


69 

ceived  from  Ham,  and  Ham  from  Noah,  and  Noah  from  Enoch, 
and  Enoch  from  Seth,  and  Seth  from  Adam,  and  Adam  from 
the  angel  Raphael.  Ham  wrought  with  it  great  marvels,  and 
Hermes  received  it  from  him  and  placed  it  amongst  the  hiero¬ 
glyphics.  But  this  character  signifies  the  progress  and  motion 
of  the  Spirit  of  the  world,  and  it  was  a  magic  seal,  kept  secret 
among  their  mysteries,  and  a  ring  constraining  demons.”  1 


VI. 

CAIN  AND  ABEL. 

After  that  the  child  given  to  Satan  died,  says  Tabari, 
Adam  had  another  son,  and  he  called  him  Seth,  and  Seth  was 
prophet  in  the  room  of  his  father,  after  the  death  of  Adam. 

Adam  had  many  more  children  ;  every  time  that  Eve  bore, 
she  bare  twins,  whereof  one  was  male,  the  other  female,  and 
the  twins  were  given  to  one  another  as  husband  and  wife. 

Now  Adam  sought  to  give  to  Abel  the  twin  sister  of  Cain, 
when  she  was  old  enough  to  be  married,  but  Cain  (Kabil,  in 
Arabic)  was  dissatisfied.2  Adam  said  to  the  brothers,  Cain 
and  Abel,  “  Go,  my  sons,  and  sacrifice  to  the  Lord  ;  and  he 
whose  sacrifice  is  accepted,  shall  have  the  young  girl.  Take 
each  of  your  offerings  in  your  hand  and  go,  sacrifice  to  the 
Lord,  and  he  shall  decide.” 

Abel  was  a  shepherd,  and  he  took  the  fattest  of  the  sheep, 
and  bore  it  to  the  place  of  sacrifice  ;  but,  Cain,  who  was  a  tiller 
of  the  soil,  took  a  sheaf  of  corn,  the  poorest  he  could  find, 
and  placed  it  on  the  altar.  Then  fire  descended  from  heaven 
and  consumed  the  offering  of  Abel,  so  that  not  even  the 
cinders  remained  ;  but  the  sheaf  of  Cain  was  left  untouched. 

Adam  gave  the  maiden  to  Abel,  and  Cain  was  sore  vexed. 

Qne  day,  Abel  was  asleep  on  a  mountain.  Cain  took  a 
stone  and  crushed  his  head.  Then  he  threw  the  corpse  on 
his  back,  and  carried  it  about,  not  knowing  what  to  do  with 
it ;  but  he  saw  two  crows  fighting,  and  one  killed  the  other  ; 

1  Stephanus  Le  Moyne,  Notag  ad  Varia  Sacra,  p.  863. 

2  Abulfeda,  p.  15.  In  the  Apocryphal  book.  The  Combat  of  Adam 
(Dillman,  Das  Christliche  Adambuch  des  Morgenlancles  ;  Gottingen 
1853),  the  same  reason  for  hostility  is  given.  In  that  account,  Satan  ap¬ 
pears  to  Cain  and  prompts  him  to  every  act  of  wickedness. 


7o 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


% 

then  the  crow  that  survived  duo:  a  hole  in  the  earth  with  his 
beak,  and  buried  the  dead  bird.  Cain  said,  “  1  have  not  the 
sense  of  this  bird.  I  too  will  lay  my  brother  in  the  ground.” 
And  he  did  so. 

When  Adam  learned  the  death  of  his  son,  he  set  out  in 
search  of  Cain,  but  could  not  find  him  ;  then  he  recited  the 
following  lines  : — 

“  Every  city  is  alike,  each  mortal  man  is  vile, 

The  face  of  earth  has  desert  grown,  the  sky  has  ceased  to  smile, 

Every  flower  has  lost  its  hue,  and  every  gem  is  dim. 

Alas !  my  son,  my  son  is  dead  ;  the  brown  earth  swallows  him  ! 

We  one  have  had  in  midst  of  us  whom  death  has  not  yet  found. 

No  peace  for  him,  no  rest  for  him,  treading  the  blood-drenched 
ground.”  1 

This  is  how  the  story  is  told  in  the  Midrash  : 2  Cain  and 
Abel  could  not  agree,  for,  what  one  had,  the  other  wanted ; 
then  Abel  devised  a  scheme  that  they  should  make  a  division 
of  property,  and  thus  remove  the  possibility  of  contention. 
The  proposition  pleased  Cain.  So  Cain  took  the  earth,  and 
all  that  is  stationarv,  and  Abel  took  all  that  is  movable. 

But  the  envy  which  lay  in  the  heart  of  Cain  gave  him  no 
rest.  One  day  he  said  to  his  brother,  “  Remove  thy  foot, 
thou  standest  on  my  property  :  the  plain  is  mine.” 

Then  Abel  ran  upon  the  hills,  but  Cain  cried,  “  Away,  the 
hills  are  mine  !  ”  Then  he  climbed  the  mountains,  but  still 
Cain  followed  him,  calling,  “  Away  !  the  stony  mountains  are 
mine.” 

In  the  Book  of  Jasher  the  cause  of  quarrel  is  differently 
stated.  One  day  the  flock  of  Abel  ran  over  the  ground  Cain 
had  been  ploughing  ;  Cain  rushed  furiously  upon  him  and 
bade  him  leave  the  spot.  “  Not,”  said  Abel,  “  till  you  have 
paid  me  for  the  skins  of  my  sheep  and  wool  of  their  fleeces 
used  for  your  clothing.”  Then  Cain  took  the  coulter  from  his 
plough,  and  with  it  slew  his  brother.3 

The  Targum  of  Jerusalem  says,  the  subject  of  contention 
was  that  Cain  denied  a  Judgment  to  come  and  Eternal  Life; 
and  Abel  argued  for  both.4  The  Rabbi  Menachem,  however, 
asserts  that  the  point  on  which  they  strove  was  whether  a  word 
was  written  zizit  or  zizis  in  the  Parascha.5 

1  Tabari,  i.  c.  xxx.  2  Jalkut,  fob  n  a.  3  Yaschar,  p.  1089. 

4  Targums  eel.  Etheridge,  London,  1862,  i.  p.  172. 

5  Eisenmenger,  i.  p.  320. 


CAIN  AND  ABEL. 


71 


“  And  when  they  were  in  the  field  together,  the  brothers, 
quarrelled,  saying.  ‘  Let  us  divide  the  world.’  One  said, 
‘The  earth  you  stand  on  is  my  soil.’  The  other  said,  4  You 
are  standing  on  my  earth.’  One  said,  ‘  The  Holy  Temple 
shall  stand  on  my  lot ;  ’  the  other  said,  ‘  It  shall  stand  on  my 
lot.’  So  they  quarrelled.  Now  there  were  born  with  Abel 
two  daughters,  his  sisters.  Then  said  Cain,  ‘  I  will  take  the 
one  I  choose,  I  am  the  eldest ;  ’  Abel  said,  ‘  They  were  born 
with  me,  and  I  will  have  them  both  to  wife.’  And  when  they 
fought,  Abel  flung  Cain  down  and  was  above  him  ;  and  he  lay 
on  Cain.  Then  Cain  said  to  Abel,  ‘  Are  we  not  both  sons  of 
one  father;  why  wilt  thou  kill  me  ?’  -  And  Abel  had  compas¬ 
sion,  and  let  Cain  get  up.  And  so  Cain  fell  on  him  and  killed 
him.  From  this  we  learn  not  to  render  good  to  the  evil,  for, 
because  Abel  showed  mercy  to  Cain,  Cain  took  advantage  of 
it  to  slay  Abel.”  1 

S.  Methodius  the  Younger  refers  to  this  tradition.  He 
says  :  “  Be  it  known  that  Adam  and  Eve  when  they  left  Para¬ 
dise  were  virgins.  But  the  third  year  after  the  expulsion  from 
•  Eden,  they  had  Cain,  their  first-born,  and  his  sister  Calmana  ; 
and  after  this,  next  year,  they  had  Abel  and  his  sister  Deb¬ 
orah.  But  in  the  three  hundredth  year  of  Adam’s  life,  Cain 
slew  his  brother,  and  Adam  and  Eve  wailed  over  him  a  hun¬ 
dred  years.”  2 

Eutychius,  Patriarch  of  Alexandria,  says,  “  When  Adam 
and  Eve  rebelled  against  God,  He  expelled  them  from  Para¬ 
dise  at  the  ninth  hour  on  Friday  to  a  certain  mountain  in 
India,  and  He  bade  them  produce  children  to  increase  and 
multiply  upon  the  earth.  Adam  and  Eve  therefore  became 
parents,  first  of  a  boy  named  Cain,  and  of  a  girl  named 
Azrun,  wrho  were  twins  ;  then  of  another  boy  named  Abel,  and 
of  a  twin  sister  named  Owain,  or  in  Greek  Laphura. 

“  Now,  when  the  children  were  grown  up,  Adam  said  to 
Eve,  ‘  Let  Cain  marry  Owain,  who  was  born  with  Abel,  and 
let  Abel  have  Azrun,  who  was  born  with  Cain.’  But  Cain 
said  to  his  mother,  ‘  I  will  marry  my  own  twin  sister,  and  Abel 
shall  marry  his.1  For  Azrun  was  prettier  than  Owain.  But 
when  Adam  heard  this,  he  said,  ‘  It  is  contrary  to  the  precept 
that  thou  shouldst  marry  thy  twin  sister.’ 

* 

1  Liber  Zenorena,  quoted  by  Fabricius,  i.  p.  108. 

2  S.  Methodius,  jun.,  Reveladones,  c.  3. 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


r* 


“  Now  Cain  was  a  tiller  of  the  ground,  but  Abel  was  a 
pastor  of  sheep.  Adam  said  to  them,  ‘  Take  of  the  fruits  of 
the  earth,  and  of  the  young  of  the  sheep,  and  ascend  the  top 
of  this  holy  mountain,  and  offer  there  the  best  and  choicest 
to  God.’  Abel  offered  of  the  best  and  fattest  of  the  first¬ 
born  of  the  flock.  Now  as  they  were  ascending  the  summit 
of  the  mountain,  Satan  put  it  into  the  head  of  Cain  to  kill 
his  brother,  so  as  to  get  Azrun.  For  that  reason  his  obla¬ 
tion  was  not  accepted  by  God.  Therefore  he  was  the  more 
inflamed  with  rage  against  Abel,  and  as  they  were  going 
down  the  mount,  he  rushed  upon  him  and  beat  him  about  the 
head  with  a  stone  and  killed  him.  Adam  and  Eve  bewailed 
Abel  a  hundred  years  with  the  greatest  grief.  .  .  .  And  God 
cast  out  Cain  whilst  he  was  still  unmarried  into  the  land  of 
Nod.  But  Cain  carried  off  with  him  his  sister  Azrun.”  1 

The  Rabbi  Zadok  said,  “  This  was  the  reason  why  Cain 
slew  Abel.  His  twin  sister  and  wife  was  not  at  all  good-look¬ 
ing.  Then  he  said,  { I  will  kill  my  brother  Abel,  and  carry 
off  his  wife/  ” 2 

Gregory  Abulfaraj  gives  this  account  of  the  strife  :  “  Ac¬ 
cording  to  the  opinion  of  Mar  Theodosius,  thirty  years  after 
he  was  expelled  from  Paradise,  Adam  knew  his  wife  Eve, 
and  she  bore  twins,  Cain  and  his  sister  Climia  ;  and  after 
thirty  more  years  she  bore  Abel  and  his  twin  sister  Lebuda. 
Then,  seventy  years  after  when  Adam  wanted  to  marry  one 
of  the  brothers  with  the  twin  sister  of  the  other,  Cain  refused, 
asking  to  have  his  own  twin  sister.”  3 

The  Pseudo-Athanasius  says,  “  Up  to  this  time  no  man 
had  died  so  that  Cain  should  know  how  to  kill.  The  devil 
instructed  him  in  this  in  a  dream.”  4 

Leonhard  Marius  on  Genesis  iv.  says,  “  As  to  what  in¬ 
strument  Cain  used,  Scripture  is  silent.  Chrysostom  calls  it 
a  sword  ;  Prudentius,  a  spade  ;  Irenaeus,  an  axe  ;  Isidore  says 
simply,  steel  ;  but  artists  generally  paint  a  club,  and  Abulensis 
thinks  he  was  killed  with  stones.”  Reuchlin  thinks,  as  iron 
was  not  discovered  till  the  times  of  Tubal-cain,  the  weapon 
must  have  been  made  of  wood,  and  he  points  out  how  much 
more  this  completes  the  type  of  Christ.* 

Cain  and  Abel  had  been  born  and  had  lived  with  Adam 

1  Eutychius,  Patriarcha  Alex.,  Annales.  5  Pirke  R.  Eliezer,  c.  xxi. 

*  Ilistoria  Dynastiarum,  ed.  Pocock  ;  Oxon.  1663,  p.  4. 

*  Ad  Antiochum.  quaest.  56.  h  Fabricius.  i.  p.  1 12. 


CAIN  AND  ABEL. 


73 


in  the  land  of  Adamah  ;  but  after  Cain  slew  his  brothei,  he 
was  cast  out  into  the  land  Erez,  and  wherever  he  went, 
swords  sounded  and  flashed  as  though  thirsting  to  smite  him. 
And  he  fled  that  land  and  came  to  Acra,  where  he  had 
children,  and  his  descendants  who  live  there  to  this  day  have 
two  heads.1 

Before  Cain  slew  his  brother,  says  the  Targum  of  Jeru¬ 
salem,  the  earth  brought  forth  fruits  as  the  fruits  of  Eden  ; 
but  from  the  day  that  blood  was  spilt  upon  it,  thistles  and 
thorns  sprang  up  ;  for  the  face  of  earth  grew  sad,  its  joy  was 
gone,  the  stain  was  on  its  brow. 

Abel’s  offering  had  been  of  the  fattest  of  his  sheep,  the 
Targum  adds,  but  Cain  offered  flax.2 

Abel’s  offering,  say  certain  Rabbis,  was  not  perfect ;  for  he 
offered  the  chief  part  to  God,  but  the  remainder  he  dedicated 
to  the  Devil ;  and  Cain  offered  the  chief  part  to  Satan,  and  only 
the  remainder  to  God.3 

The  Rabbi  Johanan  said,  Cain  exclaimed  when  accused  by 
God  of  the  murder,  “  My  iniquity  is  greater  than  I  can  bear,” 
and  this  is  supposed  to  mean,  “  My  iniquity  is  too  great  to  be 
atoned  for,  except  by  my  brother  rising  from  the  earth  and 
slaying  me.”  What  did  the  Holy  One  then  ?  He  took  one 
letter  of  the  twenty-two  which  are  in  the  Law,  and  He  wrote  it 
on  the  arm  of  Cain,  as  it  is  written,  “  He  put  a  mark  upon  him.” 4 

After  Abel  was  slain,  the  dog  which  had  kept  his  sheep 
guarded  his  body,  says  the  Midrash.  Adam  and  Eve  sat  be¬ 
side  it  and  wept,  and  knew  not  what  to  do.  Then  said  a  ra¬ 
ven  whose  friend  was  dead,  “  I  will  teach  Adam  a  lesson,”  and 
he  dug  a  hole  in  the  soil  and  laid  his  friend  there  and  covered 
him  up.  And  when  Adam  saw  this,  he  said  to  Eve,  “  We  will 
do  the  same  with  AbeL”  God  rewarded  the  raven  for  this  by 
promising  that  none  should  ever  injure  his  young,  that  he 
should  always  have  meat  in  abundance,  and  that  his  prayer  for 
rain  should  be  immediately  answered.5 

But  the  Rabbi  Johanan  taught  that  Cain  buried  his  brother 
to  hide  what  he  had  done  from  the  eye  of  God,  not  knowing 
that  God  can  see  even  the  most  secret  things.6 

According  to  some  Rabbis,  all  good  souls  are  derived  from 


1  Eisenmenger,  i.  p.  462. 

*  Jalkut  Cadasch,  fol.  6,  col.  i. 
1  Ibid. 


*  Targum,  i.  p.  173. 

4  Pirke  R.  Eliezer,  c.  xxi. 

*  Ibid. 


74 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


Abel  and  all  bad  souls  from  Cain.  Cain’s  soul  was  derived 
from  Satan,  his  body  alone  was  from  Eve  ;  for  the  Evil  Spirit 
Sammael,  according  to  some,  Satan,  according  to  others,  de¬ 
ceived  Eve,  and  thus  Cain  was  the  son  of  the  Evil  One.1  All 
the  children  of  Cain  also  became  demons  of  darkness  and 
nightmares,  and  therefore  it  is,  say  the  Cabbalists,  that  there  is 
no  mention  in  Genesis  of  the  death  of  any  of  Cain’s  offspring.2 

When  Cain  had  slain  his  brother,  we  are  told  in  Scripture 
that  he  fled.  Certain  Rabbis  give  the  reason  : — He  feared  lest 
Satan  should  kill  him  :  now  Satan  has  no  power  over  any  one 
whose  face  he  does  not  see,  thus  he  had  none  over  Lot’s  wife 
till  she  turned  her  face  towards  Sodom,  and  he  could  see  it; 
and  Cain  fled,  to  keep  his  face  from  being  seen  by  the  Evil 
One,  and  thus  give  him  an  opportunity  of  taking  his  life.3 

With  regard  to  the  mark  put  upon  Cain,  there  is  great  di¬ 
verging  of  opinion.  Some  say  that  his  tongue  turned  white  ; 
others,  that  he  was  given  a  peculiar  dress  ;  others,  that  his 
face  became  black ;  but  the  most  prevalent  opinion  is  that 
he  became  covered  with  hair,  and  a  horn  grew  in  the  midst 
of  his  forehead. 

The  Little  Genesis  says,  Cain  was  born  when  Adam  was 
aged  seventy,  and  Abel  when  he  was  seventy-seven. 

The  book  of  the  penitence  of  Adam  gives  us  some  curious 
details.  When  Cain  had  killed  his  brother,  he  was  filled  with 
terror,  for  he  saw  the  earth  quivering.  He  cast  the  body  into 
a  hole  and  covered  it  with  dust,  but  the  earth  threw  the  body 
out.  Then  he  dug  another  hole  and  heaped  earth  on  his 
brother’s  corpse,  but  again  the  earth  rejected  it. 

When  God  appeared  before  him,  Cain  trembled  in  all  his 
limbs,  and  God  said  to  him,  “  Thou  tremblest  and  art  in  fear  ; 
this  shall  be  thy  sign.  And  from  that  moment  he  quaked 
with  a  perpetual  ague. 

The  Rabbis  give  another  mark  as  having  been  placed  on 
Cain.  They  say  that  a  horn  grew  out  of  the  midst  of  his 
forehead.  He  was  killed  by  a  son  of  Lamech,  who,  being 
shortsighted,  mistook  him  for  a  wild  beast ;  but  in  the  Little 
Genesis  it  is  said  that  he  was  killed  by  the  fall  of  his  house, 
in  the  year  930,  the  same  day  that  Adam  died.  According 
to  the  same  authority,  Adam  and  Eve  bewailed  Abel  twenty- 
eight  years. 

1  Eisenmenger  ii.  p.  8.  2  Ibid.  p.  128.  3  Ibid.  p.  455. 


CA  IN  AND  ABEL. 


75 


The  Talmud  relates  the  following  beautiful  incident. 

God  had  cursed  Cain,  and  he  was  doomed  to  a  bitter  pun¬ 
ishment  ;  but  moved,  at  last,  by  Cain’s  contrition,  he  placed 
on  his  brow  the  symbol  of  pardon. 

Adam  met  Cain,  and  looked  with  wonder  on  the  seal  or  to¬ 
ken,  and  asked, — 

“  How  hast  thou  turned  away  the  wrath  of  the  Almighty?” 

“  By  confession  of  sin  and  repentance,”  answered  the  frat¬ 
ricide. 

“  Woe  is  me  !  ”  cried  Adam,  smiting  his  brow  ;  “  is  the  vir¬ 
tue  of  repentance  so  great,  and  I  knew  it  not  !  And  by  repent¬ 
ance  I  might  have  altered  my  lot !  ”  1 

Tabari  says  that  Cain  was  the  first  worshipper  of  fire. 
Eblis  (Satan)  appeared  to  him  and  told  him  that  the  reason 
of  the  acceptance  of  Abel’s  sacrifice  was,  that  he  had  invoked 
the  fire  that  fell  on  it  and  consumed  it ;  Cain  had  not  done 
this,  and  therefore  fire  had  not  come  down  on  his  oblation. 
Cain  believed  this,  and  adored  fire,  and  taught  his  children  to 
do  the  same.2 

Cain,  says  Josephus,  having  wandered  over  the  earth  with 
his  wife,  settled  in  the  land  of  Nod.  But  his  punishment,  so 
far  from  proving  of  advantage  to  him,  proved  only  a  stimulus 
to  his  violence  and  passion  ;  and  he  increased  his  wealth  by 
rapine,  and  he  encouraged  his  children  and  friends  to  live  by 
robbery  and  in  luxury.  He  also  corrupted  the  primitive  sim 
plicity  in  which  men  lived,  by  the  introduction  amongst  them 
of  weights  and  measures,  by  placing  boundaries,  and  walling 
cities.2 

John  Malala  says  the  same:  “Cain  was  a  tiller  of  the 
ground  till  he  committed  the  crime  of  slaying  his  brother  ;  af¬ 
ter  that,  he  lived  by  violence,  his  hand  being  against  every 
man,  and  he  invented  and  taught  men  the  use  of  weights, 
measures,  and  boundaries.” 4 

The  passage  in  Genesis  “  Whosoever  slayeth  Cain ,  vengeance 
shall  be  taken  on  him  sevenfold 6  has  been  variously  interpreted. 
Cosmas  Indopleustes  renders  it  thus,  “Whosoever  slayeth  Cain 
will  discharge  seven  vengeances ;  ”  that  is,  he  will  deliver  him 
from  those  calamities  to  which  he  is  subject  when  living/ 

1  Tract.  Avoda  Sara.  5  Taban,  i.  c.  xix. 

8  Antiq.  Judae.,  lib.  i.  c.  a. 

4  Excerpta  Chronologica,  p.  2.  8  Gen.  iv.  15. 

•  Cosmas  Indopleustes.  Cosmographia,  lib.  v. 


;6 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


But  Malala  renders  it  otherwise ;  he  says  it  is  to  be  thus 
understood:  “  Every  murderer  shall  die  for  his  sin,  but  thou 
who  didst  commit  the  first  homicide,  and  art  therefore  the 
originator  of  this  crime,  shalt  be  punished  sevenfold ;  that  is, 
thou  shalt  undergo  seven  punishments.”  For  Caip  had  com¬ 
mitted  seven  crimes.  First,  he  was  guilty  of  envy ;  then,  of 
treachery;  thirdly,  of  murder;  fourthly,  of  killing  his  brother; 
fifthly,  this  was  the  first  murder  ever  committed  ;  sixthly,  he 
grieved  his  parents  ;  and  seventhly,  Cain  lied  to  God.  Thus 
the  sin  of  Cain  was  sevenfold  ;  therefore  sevenfold  was  his 
punishment.  First,  the  earth  was  accursed  on  his  account ; 
secondly,  he  was  sentenced  to  labor;  thirdly,  the  earth  was 
forbidden  from  yielding  to  him  her  strength  ;  fourthly,  he  was 
to  become  timid  and  conscience-stricken  ;  fifthly,  he  was  to  be 
a  vagabond  on  the  earth ;  sixthly,  he  was  to  be  cast  out  from 
God’s  presence  ;  seventhly,  a  mark  was  to  be  placed  upon 
him. 

The  Mussulmans  say  that  the  penitence  of  Cain,  whom 
they  call  Kabil,  was  not  sincere.  He  was  filled  with  remorse, 
but  it  was  mingled  with  envy  and  hatred,  because  he  was  re¬ 
garded  with  disfavor  by  the  rest  of  the  sons  of  Adam. 

Near  Damascus  is  shown  a  place  at  the  foot  of  a  mountain 
where  Cain  slew  Abel.1 

The  legends  of  the  death  of  Cain  will  be  found  under  the 
title  of  Lamech. 

“  Half  a  mile  from  the  gates  of  Hebron,”  says  the  Capuchin 
Friar,  Ignatius  von  Rheinfelden,  in  his  Pilgrimage  to  Jerusa¬ 
lem,  “  begins  the  valley  of  Mamre,  in  which  Abraham  saw  the 
three  angels  ;  the  Campus  Damascenus  lies  toward  the  west ; 
there,  Adam  was  created ;  and  the  spot  is  pointed  out  where 
Cain  killed  his  brother  Abel.  The  earth  there  is  red,  and  may 
be  moulded  like  wax.” 2  Salmeron  says  the  same,  “  Adam  was 
made  of  the  earth  or  dust  of  the  Campus  DainascenusC  And 
St.  Jerome  on  Ezekiel,  chap,  xvii.,  says :  “Damascus  is  the 
place  where  Abel  was  slain  by  his  brother  Cain  ;  for  which 
cause  the  spot  is  called  Damascus,  that  is,  Blood-drinking.” 
This  Damascus  near  Hebron  is  not  to  be  confused  with  the 
city  Damascus. 

1  D’Herbelot,  Bibliotheque  Orientate,  sub  voce  Cabil,  i.  p.  438. 

1  Neue  Ierosolymitanische  Pilgerfahrt.  Von  P.  F.  Ignat,  von  Rhe.n 
felden.  Wiirtzburg,  1667.  P  ii.  p.  8. 


THE  DEATH  OF  ADAM. 


77 


VII. 

THE  DEATH  OF  ADAM. 

According  to  a  Mussulman  tradition,  Adam  was  consoled 
for  the  loss  of  Abel  by  the  discovery  of  how  to  make  wheat- 
bread.  The  story  is  as  follows  : — - 

The  angel  Gabriel  was  sent  out  of  Paradise  to  give  him 
the  rest  of  the  wheat-grains  Eve  had  plucked  from  the  forbid¬ 
den  tree,  together  with  two  oxen,  and  various  instruments  of 
husbandry.  Hitherto  he  had  fed  on  loots  apd  beiiies,  and 
had  known  nothing  of  sowing  grain  ;  acting  under  Gabriel’s 
directions,  he  ploughed  the  land,  but  the  plough  stuck,  and 
Adam  impatiently  smote  one  of  the  oxen,  and  it  spoke  to  him 
and  said,  “  Wherefore  hast  thou  smitten  me  ?  ” 

Adam  replied,  11  Because  thou  dost  not  draw  the  plough. 

“  Adam  !  ”  said  the  ox,  “  when  thou  wast  rebellious,  did 
God  smite  thee  thus  ?  ” 

“  Oh,  God  !  ”  cried  Adam  to  the  Almighty,  “  is  every  beast 
to  reproach  me,  and  recall  to  me  my  sin  ?  ” 

Then  God  heard  his  cry,  and  withdrew  from  beasts  the 
power  of  speech,  lest  they  should  cast  their  sin  in  the  teeth 

of  men. 

But  as  the  blow  was  still  arrested,  Adam  dug  into  the 
soil,  and  found  that  the  iron  had  been  caught  by  the  body  of 
his  son  Abel. 

When  the  wheat  was  sprung  up,  Gabriel  gave  Adam  fire 
from  hell,  which,  however,  he  Lad  previously  washed  seventy 
times  in  the  sea,  or  it  would  have  consumed  the  earth  and  all 
things  thereon.  In  the  beginning,  wheat-grains  were  the 
size  "of  ostrich  eggs,  but  under  Edris  (Enoch)  they  were  no 
bigger  than  goose  eggs  ;  under  Elias  they  were  the  size,  of 
hen’s  eggs  ;  under  Christ,  when  the  Jews  sought  to  slay  him, 
they  were  not  larger  than  grapes  ;  it  was  in  the  time  of  Uzeir 
(Esdras)  that  they  diminished  to  their  present. proportions. 

After  Adam  and  Eve  had  been  instructed  in  all  that  ap¬ 
pertained  to  agriculture,  Gabriel  brought  them  a  lamb  and 
showed  Adam  how  to  slay  it  in  the  namfe  of  God,  how  to  shear 
off  the  wool,  and  skin  the  sheep.  Eve  was  instructed  in  the 
art  of  spinning  and  weaving  by  the  angel,  and  she  made  of  the 


78 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


wool,  first  a  veil  for  herself,  and  then  a  shirt  for  her  hus¬ 
band. 

The  first  pair  brought  up  their  grandsons  and  great  grand¬ 
sons,  to  the  number  of  40,000  according  to  some,  and  70,000 
according  to  others,  and  taught  them  all  that  they  had  learned 
of  the  angels. 

After  the  death  of  Abel,  and  after  Cain  had  been  slain  by 
the  avenging  angel,  Eve  bore  a  third  son,  named  Seth,  who  be¬ 
came  the  father  of  the  race  of  the  prophets. 

Finally,  when  Adam  had  reached  his  nine  hundred  and 
thirtieth  year,  the  Angel  of  Death  appeared  under  the  form  of 
a  goat,  and  ran  between  his  legs. 

Adam  recoiled  with  horror,  and  exclaimed,  “  God  has  given 
me  one  thousand  years  ;  wherefore  comest  thou  now  ?  ” 

“  What  !  ”  exclaimed  the  Angel  of  Death,  “  hast  thou  not 
given  seventy  years  of  thy  life  to  the  prophet  David  ?  ” 

Adam  stoutly  denied  that  he  had  done  so.  Then  the  Angel 
of  Death  drew  the  document  of  transfer  from  out  of  his  beard, 
and  presented  it  to  Adam,  who  could  no  longer  refuse  to  go. 

His  son  Seth  washed  and  buried  him,  after  that  the  angel 
Gabriel,  or,  according  to  some  accounts,  Allah  himself,  had 
blessed  him  :  Eve  died  a  year  later. 

Learned  men  are  not  agreed  as  to  the  place  of  their  burial ; 
some  traditions  name  India,  others  the  Mount  Kubais,  and 
others  again,  Jerusalem — God  alone  knows! 1 

Tabari  says  that  Adam  made  Seth  his  testamentary  exec¬ 
utor. 

“  When  Adam  was  dead,  Gabriel  instructed  Seth  how  to 
bury  him,  and  brought  him  the  winding  sheet  out  of  heaven. 
And  Gabriel  said  to  Seth,  ‘  Thou  art  sole  executor  of  thy  father, 
therefore  it  is  thy  office  to  perform  the  religious  functions.’ 
Then  Seth  recited  over  Adam  thirty  Tebirs.  Four  of  these 
Tebirs  were  the  legal  prayers,  the  others  were  supererogatory, 
and  were  designed  to  exalt  the  virtues  of  Adam.  Some  say  that 
Adam  was  buried  near  Mecca,  on  Mount  Abui-Kubais.”  2 

According  to  the  apocryphal  “  Life  of  Adam  and  Eve,” 
Adam  before  his  death  called  to  his  bedside  all  his  sons  and 
daughters,  and  they  numbered  fifteen  thousand  males,  and 
females  unnumbered.  Adam  is  said  to  have  been  the  author 
of  several  psalms  ;  amongst  others  Psalm  civ.,  Benedic  anima 


1  Weil,  pp.  40-3. 


2  Tabari,  i  c.,  xxxiii. 


THE  DEATH  OF  ADAM. 


79 


mea ,  and  Psalm  cxxxix.,  Domine probasti ;  as  may  be  gathered 
from  the  14th,  15th,  and  16th  verses:  “  My  bones  are  not  hid 
from  thee :  though  I  was  77iade  secretly ,  and  fashioned  bejieath  in 
the  earth.  Thine  eyes  did  see  7ny  substa7ice ,  yet  being  i77iperfect ; 
and  in  Thy  book  were  all  7ny  77iembers  writte7i ;  which  day  by  day 
were  fashioned ,  when  as  yet  there  was  7ione  of  them!' 

The  Arabs  say  that  when  Adam  dictated  his  last  will  and 
testament,  the  angel  Gabriel  descended  frc  m  heaven  to  receive 
it,  accompanied  by  sixty-two  millions  of  angels,  each  provided 
with  clean  white  sheets  of  parchment  and  pens,  and  that  the 
will  was  sealed  by  Gabriel.1 

Tradition  is  not  agreed  as  to  the  place  of  Adam’s  burial. 
Khaithemah  says  that  Adam  was  buried  near  Mecca  on  Mount 
Abu-Kubais.  But  the  ancient  Persians  assert  that  he  was 
buried  in  Ceylon,  where  his  sepulchre  was  guarded  by  lions  at 
the  time  of  the  war  of  the  giants.* 

But  the  most  generally  received  tradition  is  this  : — 

The  body  of  Adam  was  taken  by  Noah  into  the  ark,  and 
Vvhen  the  ark  rested  on  Ararat,  Noah  and  his  sons  removed  the 
body  from  it,  and  they  followed  an  angel  who  led  them  to  the 
place  where  the  first  father  was  to  lie.  Shem  or  Melchizedek 
— for  they  are  one,  as  we  shall  see  presenlly — being  consecra¬ 
te!  by  God  to  the  priesthood, performed  the  religious  rites;  and 
buried  Adam  at  the  centre  of  the  earth,  which  is  Jerusalem  ; 
but,  say  some,  he  was  buried  by  Shem  along  with  Eve,  in  the 
cave  of  Machpelah,  in  Hebron.  But  others  relate  that  Noah 
on  leaving  the  ark  distributed  the  bones  of  Adam  among  his 
sons,  and  that  he  gave  the  head  to  Shem,  who  buried  it  in 
Jerusalem.  Some,  taking  this  mystically,  suppose  that  by  this 
is  meant  the  sin  and  punishment  of  Adam,  which  was  trans¬ 
mitted  to  all  the  sons  of  Noah,  but  that  to  Shem  was  given  the 
head,  the  Messiah  who  was  to  regenerate  the  world.3  S.  Basil 
of  Seleucia  says  :  “  According  to  Jewish  traditions,  the  skull  of 
Adam  was  found  there  (i.  e .,  on  Golgotha),  and  this,  they  say, 
Solomon  knew  by  his  great  wisdom.  And  because  it  was  the 
place  of  Adam’s  skull,  therefore  the  hill  was  called  Golgotha, 
or  Calvary.”  * 

With  this  a  great  concourse  of  Fathers  agree  ;  whose  testi- 

1  Colin  de  Plancy,  p.  78.  *  Herbelot,  i.  p.  95. 

8  Moses  bar  Cepha.  Commentariua  de  Paradiso,  P.  i.  c.  14.  Fabri* 

«ius,  i.  p.  75. 

4  S.  Basil  Seleoc,  Orat.  xxxviii. 


So 


OLD  TESTA  MEN  T  CHARACTERS. 


mony  has  been  laboriously  collected  by  Gretser  in  his  famous 
and  curious  book  “  De  Cruce.”  And  this  tradition  has  become  a 
favorite  subject  for  artists,  who,  in  their  paintings  or  sculp¬ 
tures,  represent  the  skull  of  Adam  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross  of 
Christ. 

The  apocryphal  “  Testament  of  Adam  ”  still  exists. 

The  tomb  of  Eve  is  shown  at  Jedda.  “On  entering  the 
great  gate  of  the  cemetery,  one  observes  on  the  left  a  little  wall 
three  feet  high,  forming  a  square  of  ten  to  twelve  feet.  There 
lies  the  head  of  our  first  mother.  In  the  middle  of  the  ceme¬ 
tery  is  a  sort  of  cupola,  where  reposes  the  navel  of  her  body  ; 
and  at  the  other  extremity,  near  the  door  of  egress,  is  another 
little  wall  also  three  feet  high,  forming  a  lozenge-shaped  enclo¬ 
sure  :  there  are  her  feet.  In  this  place  is  a  large  piece  of  cloth, 
whereon  the  faithful  deposit  their  offerings,  which  serve  for  the 
maintenance  of  a  constant  burning  of  perfumes  over  the  midst 
of  her  body.  The  distance  between  her  head  and  feet  is  four 
hundred  feet.  How  we  have  shrunk  since  the  creation  !  ”  1 
The  bones  of  Adam  and  Eve,  says  Tabari,  were  taken  by 
Noah  into  the  ark  with  him,  and  were  reburied  by  him. 

This  article  may  be  fitly  concluded  with  the  epitaph  of 
Adam,  composed  by  Gabriel  Alvarez,  and  published  by  him  in 
his  “  Historia  Ecclesiae  Antediluvians,”  Madrid,  1713. 

“  Here  lies,  reduced  to  a  pinch  of  dust,  he  who,  from  a  pinch  of 
dust,  was  formed  to  govern  the  earth, 

Adam, 

The  son  of  None,  the  father  of  All,  the  stepfather  of  All 

and  of  himself. 

Having  never  wailed  as  a  child,  he  spent  his  life  in  weeping 
the  result  of  penitence. 

Powerful,  Wise,  Immortal,  Just, 

he  sold  for  the  price  of  disobedience,  power,  wisdom,  justice, 

immortality. 

Having  abused  the  privilege  of  Free-will,  which  weapon 
he  had  received  for  the  preservation  of  Knowledge  and  Grace, 
by  one  stroke  he  struck  with  death  himself  and  all  the  human  race. 

The  Omnipotent  Judge 

who  in  His  Justice  took  from  him  Righteousness,  by  His  Mercy 
restored  it  to  him  whole  again  : 
by  whose  goodness  it  has  fallen  out,  that  we  may 
call  that  crime  happy,  which  obtained  such  and  so  great 

A  Redeemer. 

Thenceforth  Free-will,  which  he  in  happiness  used  to 


1  Lettre  de  H.  A.  D.,  Consul  de  France  en  Abyssinie,  1841. 


SETH. 


tl 


bring  forth  Misery,  is  used  in  Misery  to  bring  forth 

Happiness. 

F  or  if  we.  partakers  of  his  pernicious  inheritance,  partake 
also  of  his  penitential  example,  and  lend  our  ears 
to  salutary  counsels, 

Then  we  (who  by  our  Free- wall  could  lose  ourselves)  can  be  MT*d 
by  the  grace  of  the  Redeemer.,  and  the  co-operation  of  our 

Free-will. 

The  First  Adam  Lived  to  Die ; 

The  Second  Adam  Died  to  Live. 

Go.  and  imitate  the  penitence  of  the  First  Adam  ; 

Go,  and  celebrate  the  Goodness  of  the/  Second  Adam. 


via 

SETH. 

When  Seth  had  ascended  the  throne  of  his  father,  says 
Tabari,  he  was  the  greatest  of  the  sons  of  Adam.  Every  year 
he  made  the  pilgrimage  to  the  Kaaba,  and  he  ruled  the  world 
with  equity,  and  every  thing  flourished  during  his  reign.  At 
the  age  of  fifty  he  had  a  son  ;  he  called  his  name  Enoch,  and 
named  him  his  executor.  He  died  at  the  age  of  nine  hundred.1 

Seth  and  the  other  sons  of  Adam  waged  perpetual  war 
against  the  Dives,  or  giants,  the  sons  of  Kabil,  or  Cain. 

Rocail  was  another  son  of  Adam,  born  next  after  Seth. 

He  possessed,  says  the  Tahmurath  Nameh,  the  most  won¬ 
derful  knowledge  in  all  mysteries.  He  had  a  genius  so  quick 
and  piercing,  that  he  seemed  to  be  rather  an  angel  than  a 
man. 

Surkrag,  a  great  giant,  son  of  Cain,  commanded  in  the 
mountains  of  Kaf,  which  encompass  the  centre  of  the  earth. 
This  giant  asked  Seth  to  send  him  Rocail,  his  brother,  to  as¬ 
sist  him  in  governing  his  subjects.  Seth  consented,  and  Ro¬ 
cail  became  the  vizier  or  prime  minister  of  Surkrag,  in  the 
mountains  of  Kaf. 

After  having  governed  many  centuries,  and  knowing,  by 
divine  revelation,  that  the  time  of  his  death  drew  nigh,  he  thus 
addressed  Surkrag :  “  I  am  about  to  depart  hence  and  enter 
on  another  existence ,  but  before  I  leave,  I  wish  to  bequeath 
to  you  some  famous  work,  which  shall  perpetuate  my  name 
into  remote  ages.” 

4# 


1  Tabari,  i.  c.  xxxiv. 


82 


OLD  TESTA  ME  N'T  CHARACTERS. 


Thereupon  Rocail  erected  an  enormous  sepulchre,  adorned 
with  statues  of  various  metals,  made  by  talismanic  art,  which 
moved,  and  spake,  and  acted  like  living  men.1 

According  to  the  Rabbinic  traditions,  Seth  was  one  of  the 
thirteen  who  came  circumcised  into  the  world.  The  rest  were 
Adam,  Enoch,  Noah,  Shem,  Terah,  Jacob,  Joseph,  Moses, 
Samuel,  David,  Isaiah,  and  Jeremiah.2  The  book  Schene 
Luchoth  says  that  the  soul  of  righteous  Abel  passed  into  the 
body  of  Seth,  and  afterwards  this  same  soul  passed  into  Moses  ; 
thus  the  law,  which  was  known  to  Adam  and  in  which  Abel 
had  been  instructed,  was  not  new  to  Moses.3 

The  Little  Genesis  says,  that  Seth  was  instructed  by  the 
angels  in  what  was  to  take  place  in  the  world  ;  how  its  iniquity 
was  to  grow,  and  a  flood  was  to  overwhelm  it ;  and  how  the 
Messiah  would  come  and  restore  all  things.  Seth  was  re¬ 
markable  for  the  majesty  and  beauty  of  his  appearance,  as  he 
had  inherited  much  of  the  loveliness  of  unfallen  man.  He 
married  his  sister  Azur,  or,  according  to  others,  Norsea  or 
Horaea. 

Suidas  under  the  heading  says  :  “  Seth  was  the  son 

of  Adam  :  of  this  it  is  said,  the  sons  of  God  went  in  unto  the 
daughters  of  men  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  sons  of  Seth  went  in 
unto  the  daughters  of  Cain.  For  in  that  age  Seth  was  called 
God,  because  he  had  discovered  Hebrew  letters,  and  the  names 
of  the  stars  ;  but  especially  on  account  of  his  great  piety,  so 
that  he  was  the  first  to  bear  the  name  of  God. 

Theodoret  thus  refers  to  the  verse, — “  And  to  Seth ,  to  him 
also  there  was  born  a  son  ;  and  he  called  his  name  Enos  ;  then 
began  men  to  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord,”  or  as  our  marginal 
reading  is,  “  then  began  men  to  call  themselves  by  the  name  of  the 
Lord:  55  “  Aquila  interpreted  it  thus,  ‘  then  Seth  began  to  be 
called  by  the  name  of  the  Lord.5  These  words  intimate  his 
piety,  which  deserved  that  he  should  receive  the  sacred  name  , 
and  he  was  called  God  by  his  acquaintance,  and  his  children 
were  termed  the  sons  of  God,  just  as  we  are  called  Christians 
after  Christ.55  4 

The  origin  of  this  tradition  seems  to  be  the  fact  that  Seth 
was  the  name  of  an  ancient  Egyptian  deity,  at  first  regarded  as 
the  giver  of  light  and  civilization,  but  afterwards  identified  with 

1  D’Herbelot,  i.  p.  125,  s.  v.  Rocail. 

*  Midrash  Tillim,  fol.  10,  col.  2. 

1  Eisenmenger,  i.  p.  645.  4  Theodoret,  Quaest.  In  Gen.  xML 


SE  TH. 


83 


Typhon  by  the  Egyptians,  who  considered  Seth  to  be  the  chief 
god  of  the  Hyksos  or  shepherd  kings  ;  and  in  their  hatred  of 
these  oppressors,  the  name  of  Seth  was  everywhere  obliterated 
on  their  monuments,  and  he  was  regarded  as  one  with  the  great 
adversary,  Typhon ;  and  was  represented  as  an  ass,  or  with  an 
ass’s  head.1 

Abulfaraj,  in  his  history,  says  that  Seth  discovered  letters, 
and  that,  desirous  to  recover  the  Blessed  Life,  he  and  his  sons 
went  to  Mount  Hermon,  where  they  served  God  in  piety  and 
continence,  and  associated  not  with  the  people  of  the  land,  nor 
took  to  themselves  wives  ;  wherefore  they  were  called  the  sons 
of  God.2 

Flavius  Josephus  relates  that  after  the  things  that  were  to 
take  place  had  been  revealed  to  Seth, — how  the  earth  was  to 
be  destroyed,  first  with  water  and  then  with  fire, — lest  those 
things  which  he  had  discovered  should  perish  from  the  memo¬ 
ry  of  his  posterity,. he  set  up  two  pillars,  one  of  brick,  the  other 
of  stone,  and  he  wrote  thereon  all  the  science  he  had  acquired, 
hoping  that,  in  the  event  of  the  brick  pillar  perishing  by  the 
rain,  the  stone  would  endure.3 

Freculphus  adds  that  Jubal  assisted  the  sons  of  Seth  in 
engraving  on  the  columns  all  that  was  known  of  the  conduct 
and  order  of  the  heavens,  and  all  the  arts  then  known.4 

The  stone  pillar  was  to  be  seen,  in  the  time  of  Josephus, 
in  Syria. 

Anastasius  of  Sinai  says  that,  when  God  created  Adam 
after  His  image  and  likeness,  He  breathed  into  him  grace,  and 
illumination,  and  a  ray  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  But  when  he 
sinned,  this  glory  left  him,  and  his  face  became  clouded. 
Then  he  became  the  father  of  Cain  and  Abel.  But  afterwards 
it  is  said  in  Scripture,  “  He  begat  a  son  in  his  oivn  likeness,  after 
his  image;  and  called  his  name  Seth;”  which  is  not  said  of 
Cain  and  Abel ;  and  this  means  that  Seth  was  begotten  in  the 
likeness  of  unfallen  man  and  after  the  image  of  Adam  in 
Paradise  ;  and  he  called  his  name  Seth,  that  is,  by  interpreta¬ 
tion,  Resurrection,  because  in  him  he  saw  the  resurrection  of 
his  departed  beauty,  and  wisdom  and  glory,  and  radiance  of 

1  Plutarch,  Isis  and  Osiris,  ed.  Parthey ;  pp.  ?2,  88,  and  notes  pp.  183 
*38. 

*  Abulftraj,  Hist  Dynast.,  ed.  Pocock,  p.  5. 

*  Joseph.  Antiq.  Judaic.,  lib.  L  c.  3. 

4  Freculphus,  Chron.  lib.  i.  c.  IS. 


84 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


the  Holy  Spirit.  And  all  those  then  living,  when  they  saw 
how  the  face  of  Seth  shone  with  divine  light,  and  heard  him 
speak  with  divine  wisdom,  said  he  is  God ;  therefore  his  sons 
were  commonly  called  the  sons  of  God.1 

As  Seth  was  an  ancient  Egyptian  Sun-god,  the  origin  of 
the  myth  of  his  shining  face  can  be  ascertained  without  dif¬ 
ficulty. 

To  Seth  were  attributed  several  apocryphal  writings. 


IX. 

CAINAN  SON  OF  ENOS. 

“  And  Seth  lived  an  hundred  and jive  years,  and  begat  Enos 
and  Seth  lived  after  he  begat  Enos  eight  hundred  and  seven  years , 
and  begat  sons  and  daughters :  and  all  the  days  of  Seth  were 
nine  hundred  and  twelve  years :  and  he  died.  And  Enos  lived 
ninety  years,  and  begat .  Cainan.”  2 

Alexander  wrote  many  epistles  to  Aristotle,  his  preceptor, 
in  which  he  narrated  what  had  befallen  him  in  India.  Amongst 
other  things  he  wrote  :  “  After  I  had  entered  the  Persian  re¬ 
gion,  which  is  a  province  of  India,  I  arrived  at  some  islands 
of  the  sea,  and  there  I  found  men,  like  women,  who  feed  on 
raw  fish,  and  spake  a  language  very  like  Greek  ;  they  said  to 
me  that  there  was  in  the  island  the  sepulchre  of  a  most  an¬ 
cient  king,  who  was  called  Cainan,  son  of  Enos,  and  who 
ruled  the  whole  world,  and  taught  men  all  kinds  of  knowledge, 
and  had  demons  and  all  kinds  of  evil  spirits  under  his  control. 
He,  by  his  wisdom,  understood-  that  the  ever-blessed  God 
would  bring  in  a  flood  in  the  times  of  Noah ;  wherefore  he 
engraved  all  that  was  to  take  place  on  stone  tables,  which 
exist  there  to  this  day,  and  are  written  in  Hebrew  characters. 
He  wrote  therein  that  the  ocean  would,  in  that  age,  overflow 
a  third  part  of  the  world,  which  took  place  in  the  lifetime  of 
Enos,  the  son  of  Seth,  who  was  the  son  of  Adam,  our  first 
parent. 

“  In  the  same  island,  Cainan  built  a  most  extensive  city, 
surrounded  with  walls ;  and  a  great  marble  citadel,  in  which 

1  Anastasius  Sinaita,  OSrjyoS  ed.  Gretser,  Ingoist.  1606,  p.  269. 

Gen.  v.  6-9. 


ENOCH.  85 

he  treasured  jewels  and  pearls,  and  gold  and  silver  in  great 
abundance. 

“  Moreover,  he  erected  a  tower,  very  lofty,  over  a  sepulchre 
for  himself,  to  serve  as  his  monument.  This  tower  can  be 
approached  by  no  man  ;  for  it  was  built  by  astronomical  art 
under  the  seven  planets,  and  with  magical  skill,  so  that  every 
one  who  draws  near  the  wall  is  struck  down  with  sudden 
death.”1 


X. 

ENOCH. 

I.  THE  TRANSLATION  OF  ENOCH. 

• 

Enoch,  or  Edris,3  as  he  is  called  by  the  Arabs,  was  born 
in  Hindostan,  but  he  lived  in  Yemen.  He  was  a  prophet. 
In  his  days  men  worshipped  fire,  being  deceived  by  Eblis. 
When  God  sent  Enoch  to  his  brethren  to  turn  them  from  their 
false  worship,  they  would  not  believe  him. 

Idolatry  began  in  the  times  of  Jared,  son  of  Mahalaleel, 
and  it  spread  to  such  an  extent  that,  when  Noah  was  born, 
there  were  not  eighty  persons  who  worshipped  the  true,  and 
living,  and  only  God.  Jared  fought  Satan,  the  prince  of  de¬ 
mons,  and  captured  him,  and  led  him  about  in  chains  where- 
ever  he  went. 

Enoch  knew  how  to  sew,  and  was  an  accomplished  tailor. 
He  was  the  first  to  put  pen  to  paper  ;  he  wrote  many  books. 
He  had  in  his  possession  the  books  of  Adam,  and  for  ten  years, 
instead  of  sleeping,  he  spent  the  night  in  reading  them. 

He  instructed  men  in  the  art  of  making  garments ;  Enoch 
showed  them  how  to  cut  out  the  skins  to  the  proper  shape, 
and  to  sew  them  together ;  and  how  to  make  shoes  to  protect 
their  feet. 

And  then,  when  the  people  had  derived  this  great  blessing 
from  him,  they  were  ready  to  listen  to  his  books ;  and  he  read 

1  Tseudo  Josephus  Gorionides  ;  ed.  Clariss.  Breithauptius,  lib.  ii.  c.  18, 

P*  I3I* 

s  I  give  the  Arabic  legend.  The  account  in  Jasher  is  different.  Enoch 
retired  from  the  world,  and  showed  himself  only  at  rare  intervals,  when 
he  gave  advice  to  all  who  came  to  hear  his  wisdom.  lie  was  taken  up  to 
heaven  in  a  whirlwind,  in  a  chariot  with  horses  of  fire.  (Yaschar,  pp 

1094-1096.1 


86 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS . 


to  them  the  books  of  Adam,  and  endeavored  thereby  to  bring 
them  back  to  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God. 

When  he  had  spent  many  years  in  prayer,  the  Angel  of 
Death  desired  to  make  a  compact  of  friendship  with  him.  He 
took  on  him  a  human  form  and  approached  him,  saying,  “  I  am 
the  Angel  of  Death,  and  I  desire  thy  friendship.  On  account 
of  thy  great  piety,  thou  mayest  make  me  a  request  which  I 
shall  accomplish.’’ 

Enoch  answered,  “I  desire  that  thou  shouldst  take  my 
soul.” 

The  angel  replied,  “  I  have  not  come  to  thee  for  this  pur¬ 
pose  ;  thy  time  is  not  yet  arrived  at  its  appointed  close.” 

Then  Enoch  said,  “  It  is  well ;  but  take  my  soul  away  for  a 
little  space,  and  then  return  it  to  my  body,  if  God  so  wills.” 

The  angel  said,  “  I  cannot  do  this  without  God’s  consent.” 
But  he  presented  the  supplication  of  Enoch  before  Allah,  and 
God,  knowing  what  was  the  design  of  Enoch,  granted  the 
prayer. 

Then  Azrael  bore  away  the  soul  of  Enoch,  and  at  the  same 
instant  the  Eternal  One  restored  it  to  him.  After  this,  Enoch 
continued  to  praise  and  pray  to  God ;  and  the  Angel  of  Death 
became  his  friend,  and  often  came  to  visit  him. 

Years  passed,  and  Enoch  said  one  day  to  the  angel,  “Oh, 
my  friend  !  I  have  yet  a  request  to  make.” 

Azrael  answered,  “  If  I  can  grant  it,  I  will  do  so  readily.” 

Enoch  s?id,  “  I  would  see  Hell,  for  I  have  undergone  death, 
and  I  know  its  sensations.  I  would  know  now  the  torments 
of  the  lost.” 

Bu*-  the  angel  answered,  “This  I  cannot  grant  without 
permission  from  the  Almighty.” 

God  heard  the  prayer  of  Enoch,  and  He  suffered  Azrael  to 
accomplish  what  the  prophet  had  desired.  Then  the  Angel 
of  Death  bore  away  Enoch,  and  showed  him  the  seven  stages 
of  Hell,  and  all  the  torments  inflicted  there  on  sinners :  after 
that  he  replaced  him  where  he  was  before. 

After  some  while  had  elapsed,  Enoch  again  addressed 
Azrael,  and  said,  “  I  have  another  request  to  make.” 

The  angel  answered,  “  Say  on.” 

Then  said  Enoch,  “  I  desire  to  see  the  Paradise  of  God,  as 
I  have  seen  Hell.” 

Azrael  replied,  “  I  cannot  grant  thy  petition  without  the 
consent  of  God.” 


ENOCH. 


But  the  All-Merciful,  when  he  heard  the  request  of  his 
servant  consented  that  it  should  be  even  as  he  desired.  So 
the  angel  bore  Enoch  into  Paradise.  And  when  they  had 
reached  the  gates,  the  keeper,  Ridhwan,  refused  to  open,  say¬ 
ing  to  Enoch,  “  Thou  art  a  man,  and  no  man  can  enter  Para¬ 
dise  who  has  not  tasted  death.” 

Then  Enoch  replied,  “I  also  have  tasted  death  ;  the  soul 
that  I  have  will  dwell  eternally  with  me  ;  God  has  resuscitated 
me  from  death.” 

Ridhwan,  however,  said,  "  I  cannot  do  this  thing  and  admit 
thee  without  the  order  of  God.” 

Then  the  order  arrived  from  Allah,  and  the  angel  of  the 
gate  refused  no  more ;  so  Enoch  entered  ;  but  before  Enoch 
and  Azrael  passed  the  gates,  Rid  wan  said  to  the  prophet,  “  Go 
in,  and  behold  Paradise,  but  be  speedy  and  leave  it  again,  for 
thou  mayest  not  dwell  there  till  after  the  Resurrection.” 

Enoch  replied,  “Be  it  so;”  and  he  went  in  and  viewed 
Paradise,  and  came  out,  as  he  had  promised  ;  and  as  he  passed 
the  threshold  of  the  door  he  turned  and  said  to  the  angel,  “  Oh, 
Ridhwan  !  I  have  left  something  in  there  ;  suffer  me  to  run  and 
fetch  it.” 

But  Ridhwan  refused  ;  and  a  dispute  arose  between  them. 

Enoch  said,  “  I  am  a  prophet ;  and  God  has  sent  me  thirty 
books,  and  I  have  written  them  all,  and  I  have  never  revolted 
against  God.  In  those  books  that  God  sent  me,  I  was  promised 
Paradise.  If  it  be  necessary  that  I  should  have  undergone 
death  I  have  undergone  it.  If  it  be  necessary  that  I  should 
have  seen  Hell,  I  have  seen  it.  Now  I  am  come  to  Paradise, 
and  that  is  my  home  ;  God  has  promised  it  to  me,  and  now 
that  I  have  entered  I  will  leave  it  no  more.” 

The  dispute  waxed  hot,  but  it  was  terminated  by  the  order 
of  God,  who  bade  Ridhwan  open  the  gate  and  re-admit  Pinoch 
into  Paradise,  where  he  still  dwells.' 

% 

a.  THK  BOOK  OF  ENOCH. 

The  Book  of  Enoch,  quoted  by  S.  Jude  in  his  Epistle,  and 
alluded  to  by  Origen,  S.  Augustine,  S.  Clement  of  Alexandria, 
and  others  of  the  Fathers,  must  not  be  passed  over. 

The  original  book  appears  from  internal  evidence  to  hav* 


1  Ta.ba.ri,  i.  c.  xxxv. 


88  OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 

been  written  about  the  year  no  B.  c.1  But  we  have  not  the 
work  as  then  written  ;  it  has  suffered  from  numerous  interpola¬ 
tions,  and  it  is  difficult  always  to  distinguish  the  original  text 
from  the  additions. 

The  book  is  frequently  quoted  in  the  apocryphal  “Testa¬ 
ment  of  the  Twelve  Patriachs,”  which  is  regarded  as  canonical 
by  the  Armenian  Church,  but  the  references  are  for  the  most 
part  not  to  be  found  in  the  text.  It  was  largely  used  by  some 
of  the  early  Christian  writers,  either  with  acknowledgment  or 
without.  The  monk  George  Syncellus,  in  the  eighth  century, 
extracted  portions  to  compose  his  Chronography.  This  frag¬ 
ment  in  Syncellus  was  all  that  was  known  of  the  book  in  the 
West  till  the  last  century.  The  Jews,  though  remembering  the 
work,  had  lost  it  in  Hebrew  ;  but  it  was  alluded  to  by  the 
Rabbis  down  to  the  thirteenth  century,  and  it  is  referred  to  in 
the  Book  Sohar,  though  the  writer  may  not  have  read  the  book 
of  Enoch.  Bruce,  the  African  traveller,  was  the  first  to  bring 
it  to  Europe  from  Abyssinia  in  two  MSS.,  in  the  year  1773. 
Much  attention  was  not,  however,  paid  to  it  till  1800,  when 
De  Sacy  in  his  “  Magasin  Encyclopcdique,”  under  the  title 
“  Notice  sur  le  Livre  d’Enoch,”  gave  some  account  of  the  work. 
In  1801,  Professor  Laurence  gave  to  the  public  an  English 
translation,  accompanied  by  some  critical  remarks.  Since 
then,  the  book  has  been  carefully  and  exegetically  examined. 
The  version  we  now  have  is  Ethiopic. 

The  Book  of  Enoch  consists  of  five  divisions,  or  books, 
together  with  a  Prolegomena  and  an  Epilegomena. 

After  the  introduction  (caps.  1-5),  which  describes  the 
work  as  the  revelation  of  the  seer  Enoch  concerning  the  fu¬ 
ture  judgment  and  its  consequences,  with  warnings  to  the  elect 
as  to  the  signs  ;  the  First  part  (caps.  6-16)  opens  with  an  ac 
count  of  the  fall  of  the  Angels,  their  union  with  the  daughters 
of  men,  and  the  generation  of  the  giants.  Connected  with 
this,  and  divided  from  it  by  no  superscription  or  sign  of  change 
of  subject,  is  an  account  of  a  journey  made  by  Enoch,  in  the 
company  of  the  angels,  over  the  earth  and  through  the  lower 
circles  of  heaven,  during  which  he  is  instructed  in  various  mys¬ 
teries  hidden  from  the  knowledge  of  men,  and  a  great  deal  of 
this  wondrous  information  is  communicated  to  the  reader. 


ENOCH. 


89 


This  description  of  a  journey,  which  is  itself  divided  into 
two  parts,  unquestionably  belongs  to  the  original  book,  and  the 
historical  portion,  narrating  the  procreation  of  the  Giants,  is  an 
interpolation. 

The  Second  portion  of  the  book  (caps.  37-71),  with  its  own 
special  superscription  and  introduction,  is  called  “The  Second 
History  of  Wisdom.”  It  continues  the  history  of  the  voyage. 
The  first  portion  contained  the  description  of  the  mysterious 
places  and  things  in  the  earth  and  in  the  lower  heaven  ;  the 
second  portion  contains  an  account  of  the  mysteries  of  the 
highest  heaven,  the  angel-world,  the  foundin-g  of  the  kingdom 
of  the  Messias,  and  the  signs  of  His  coming. 

The  close  of  this  portion  contains  prophecies  of  Noah’s 
Flood,  and  accounts  of  the  fall  of  the  Angels,  their  evil  life  and 
their  punishment.  The  whole  account  of  the  Flood,  which 
comes  in  without  rhyme  or  reason,  is  also  a  manifest  interpola¬ 
tion. 

The  Third  portion  (caps.  72-82)  also  under  its  own  head¬ 
ing,  is  on  “The  Revolution  of  the  Lights  of  Heaven,”  and  de¬ 
scribes  the  motions  of  the  planets,  the  duration  of  the  seasons, 
and  the  number  of  the  days  of  the  months,  and  the  great  winds 
of  heaven.  With  this  part  the  voyage  of  Enoch  closes. 

The  Fourth  part  (caps.  83-91),  which  has  no  superscrip¬ 
tion,  but  which  is  generally  designated  as  *  The  Book  of  the 
Dream  History,”  contains  the  visions  shown  Enoch  in  his 
youth,  which,  in  a  series  of  pictures,  gives  the  history  of  the 
world  till  the  end  of  time.  This  part  closes  with  some  words 
of  advice  from  Enoch  to  his  sons. 

The  Fifth  and  last  part  (caps.  92-105)  is  “The  Book  of 
Exhortation,”  addressed  by  Enoch  to  his  family  against  sin 
in  all  its  forms,' under  all  its  disguises,  and  concludes  with  an 
account  of  certain  presages  which  should  announce  the  birth 
of  Noah. 

The  Talmudic  writers  taught  that  Enoch  at  his  translation 
became  a  chief  angel,  and  that  his  name  became  Metatron. 
In  the  Chaldee  version  of  Jonathan  on  the  words  of  Genesis 
v.  24,  it  is  said,  “  And  Enoch  served  before  the  Lord  in  truth, 
and  was  not  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  for  he  was 
translated  above  into  the  firmament,  through  the  word  of  the 
Lord  ;  and  He  called  him  by  the  name  of  Metatron  (the  great 
writer).”  And  in  Rabbi  Menachem’s  Commentary  on  the 
Five  Books  of  Moses,  it  is  written,  “The  Rabbi  Ishmael  re- 


go 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


lates  that  he  spoke  to  the  Metatron,  and  he  asked  hint  why 
he  was  named  with  the  name  of  his  Creator  and  with  seventy 
names,  and  why  he  was  greater  than  any  prince,  and  higher  than 
any  angel,  and  dearer  than  any  servant,  and  more  honored 
than  all  the  host  and  more  excellent  in  greatness,  in  power, 
and  dominion  than  all  the  mighty  ones.  Then  he  answered 
and  said,  ‘Because  I  was  Enoch,  son  of  Jared.  This  is  what 
the  holy,  ever-blessed  God  wrought, — when  the  races  of  the 
Flood  (/.  e .,  the  sinners  who  lived  at  the  time  wrhen  the  Flood 
came)  sinned,  and  did  unrighteously  in  their  works,  and  had 
said  to  God,  “  Depart  from  us,” — He  took  me  from  that  un¬ 
toward  generation  into  the  highest  heaven,  that  I  might  be  a 
witness  against  that  generation.  And  after  the  ever-blessed 
God  had  removed  me  that  I  should  stand  before  the  throne 
of  his  Majesty,  and  before  the  wheels  of  His  chariot,  and  ac¬ 
complish  the  requirements  of  the  Most  High,  then  my  flesh 
became  flame,  and  my  arteries  fire,  and  my  bones  juniper 
ashes,  and  the  light  of  my  eyelids  became  the  flashing  of  light¬ 
ning,  and  my  eyeballs  torches  of  fire,  and  the  hair  of  my  head 
was  a  flame,  and  all  my  limbs  were  fiery,  burning  wings,  and 
my  body  became  burning  fire ;  and  by  my  right  hand  flames 
were  cleft  asunder  ;  and  from  my  left  hand  burnt  fiery  torches ; 
but  around  me  blew7  a  wind,  and  storm,  and  tempest ;  and  be¬ 
fore  and  behind  me  was  the  voice  of  a  mighty  earthquake.’  ” 
The  Rabbi  Ishmael  gives  further  particulars  which  are  en¬ 
shrined  in  the  great  Jalkut  Rubeni.1 

The  Rabbi  Ishmael,  according  to  this  book,  received  in  ad¬ 
dition  these  particulars  from  the  lips  of  Enoch.  He  was  car¬ 
ried  to  heaven  in  a  chariot  of  fire  by  horses  of  fire  ;  and  when 
he  entered  into  the  presence  of  God,  the  Sacred  Beasts,  the  Ser¬ 
aphim,  the  Osannim,  the  Cherubim,  the  wheels  of  the  chariot, 
and  all  the  fiery  ministers  recoiled  five  thousand  three  hundred 
and  eighty  miles  at  the  smell  of  him,  and  cried  aloud  “  What 
a  stink  is  come  among  us  from  one  born  of  a  woman  !  Why  is 
one  who  has  eaten  of  white  wheat  admitted  into  heaven  ?  ” 
Then  the  Almighty  answered  and  said,  “  My  servants, 
Cherubim  and  Seraphim,  do  not  be  grieved,  for  all  my  sons 
have  rejected  my  sovereignty  and  adore  idols,  this  man  alone 
excepted ;  and  in  reward  I  exalt  him  to  principality7  over  the 
angels  in  heaven.”  When  Enoch  heard  this  he  was  glad,  for 


1  Fol.  26  col.  2. 


THE  GIANTS. 


95 


he  had  been  a  simple  shoemaker  on  earth ;  but  this  had  he 
done,  at  every  stitch  he  had  said,  “The  name  of  God  and  His 
Majesty  be  praised.” 

The  height  of  Enoch  when  a  chief  angel  v/as  very  great. 
It  would  take  a  man  five  hundred  years  to  walk  from  his  heel 
to  the  crown  of  his  head.  And  the  ladder  which  Jacob  saw  in 
vision  was  the  ladder  of  Metatron.1  The  same  authority,  above 
quoted,  the  Rabbi  Ishmael,  is  reported  to  have  had  the  exact 
measure  of  Enoch  from  his  own  lips ;  it  was  seven  hundred 
thousand  times  thousand  miles  in  length  and  in  breadth.* 

The  account  in  the  Targum  of  Palestine  is  simply  this. 
“  Enoch  served  in  the  truth  before  the  Lord  ;  and  behold,  he 
was  not  with  the  sojourners  of  the  earth  ;  for  he  was  withdrawn, 
and  he  ascended  to  the  firmament  by  the  Word  before  the  Lord, 
and  his  name  was  called  Metatron,  the  Great  Saphra.”  3 

Whether  the  Annakos,  or  Nannakos  of  whom  Suidas  wrote, 
is  to  be  identified  with  Enoch,  I  do  not  venture  to  decide.  Sui¬ 
das  says  that  Nannak  was  an  aged  king  before  Deucalion  (Noah), 
and  that,  foreseeing  the  Deluge,  he  called  all  his  subjects  to¬ 
gether  into  the  temple  to  pray  the  gods  with  many  tears  to  re¬ 
mit  the  evil.4  And  Stephanos,  the  Byzantine  lexicographer, 
says  that  Annakos  lived  at  Iconium  in  Phrygia,  and  that  to 
weep  for  Annak,  became  a  proverb. 


XL 

THE  GIANTS. 

The  Giants,  say  the  Cabbalists,  arose  thus. 

Aza  and  Azael,  two  angels  of  God,  complained  to  the  Most 
High  at  the  creation  of  man,  and  said,  “  Why  hast  Thou  made 
man  who  will  anger  Thee  ?  ” 

But  God  answered,  “  And  you,  O  angels,  if  you  were  in  the 
lower  world,  you  too,  would  sin.”  And  He  sent  them  on  earth, 
and  then  they  fell,  as  says  the  Book  of  Genesis,  “  And  it  came 
to  pass  that  the  sons  of  God  saw  the  daughters  of  men  that  they 
were  fair,  and  they  took  them  wives  of  all  which  they  chose.” 
After  they  had  sinned,  they  were  givm  bodies  of  flesh  ;  for  an 

1  Jalkut  Rubeni,  fob  27,  col.  4.  *  Ibid.,  foL  X07 ,  col.  L 

*  Targums,  ed.  Etheridge,  i.  p.  175. 

4  Sttiaas,  Lexic.  s.  v.  Nannacos. 


9* 


OLD  TL  LAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


angel  who  spends  seven  days  on  earth  becomes  opaque  and 
substantial.  And  when  they  had  been  clothed  with  flesh  and 
with  a  corrupt  nature,  then  they  spake  the  word  “  Shem  ham- 
phorasch,”  and  sought  to  regain  their  former  place,  but  could 
not ;  and  were  cast  out  into  mountains,  there  to  dwell.  From 
these  angels  descend  the  sons  of  the  giants  and  the  Anakim, 
and  from  their  seed  also  spring  the  devils.1  The  Rabbi  Eliezer 
says  that  the  giants  sprang  from  the  union  of  the  angels  with  the 
daughters  of  Cain,  who  walked  about  in  immodest  clothing  and 
cast  their  eyes  around  with  bold  glances.  And  the  book  Zeena- 
ureena,  in  the  Parascha  Chykkath,  says  that  Og  sprang  from 
this  connection,  and  that  Sammael,  the  angel,  was  the  parent  of 
Og,  but  that  Sihon  was  the  son  of  the  same  angel  who  deceived 
the  wife  of  Ham  when  she  was  about  to  enter  the  ark.3 

The  account  in  the  Book  of  Enoch  is  as  follows  : — 

“  Hear  and  fear  not,  Enoch,  thou  righteous  man,  and  writer 
of  righteousness,  come  hither  and  hear  my  words  :  Go  speak 
unto  the  Watchers  of  Heaven,  and  say  unto  them,  Ye  shall 
pray  for  men  and  not  men  for  you.  Why  have  ye  forsaken  the 
high  and  holy  and  eternal  heaven,  and  have  joined  yourselves 
to  women,  and  polluted  yourselves  with  the  daughters  of  men, 
and  have  taken  to  you  wives,  and  have  become  the  fathers  of 
a  giant  race?  Ye  who  were  spiritual,  holy,  and  enjoying 
eternal  life,  have  corrupted  yourselves  with  women,  and  have 
become  parents  of  children  with  flesh  and  blood  ;  lusting  after 
the  blood  of  men,  ye  have  brought  forth  flesh  and  blood,  like 
those  who  are  mortal  and  perishable.  Because  men  die, 
therefore  did  I  give  unto  them  wives,  that  they  might  have  sons, 
and  perpetuate  their  generation.  But  ye  are  spiritual  and  in 
the  enjoyment  of  eternal  life.  Therefore  give  I  not  to  you 
wives,  for  heaven  is  the  abode  of  the  spirits.  And  now  the 
giants,  who  are  born  of  flesh  and  blood,  shall  become  evil  spir¬ 
its,  and  their  dwelling  shall  be  on  the  earth.  Bad  beings  shall 
proceed  from  them.  Because  they  have  been  generated  from 
above,  from  the  holy  Watchers  have  they  received  their  origin, 
therefore  shall  they  be  evil  spirits  on  the  earth,  and  evil  spirits 
shall  they  be  called.  And  the  spirits  of  the  giants,  which 
mount  upon  the  clouds,  will  fail  and  be  cast  down,  and  do  vi¬ 
olence,  and  cause  ruin  on  the  earth  and  injury  ;  they  shall  not 
eat,  they  shall  not  thirst,  and  they  shall  be  invisible.” 3 

1  Nischmath  Chajim,  fol.  116,  col.  i.  *  Eisenraenger,  i.  p.  380. 

*  Das  Buch  Henoch,  von  Dillmann,  Leipz.  1853,  c.  xv.  p.  9. 


THE  GIANTS. 


93 


Among  the  Oriental  Christians  it  is  said,  that  Adam  having 
•related  to  the  children  of  Seth  the  delights  of  Paradise,  sever¬ 
al  of  them  desired  to  recover  the  lost  possession.  They  re 
tired  to  Mount  Hermon  and  dwelt  there  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord  ; 
living  in  great  austerity,  in  hope  that  their  penitence  would  re¬ 
cover  Eden.  But  the  Canaanites  dwelt  round  them  on  all 
sides,  and  the  sons  of  Seth  becoming  tired  of  celibacy,  took 
the  daughters  of  the  Canaanites  to  wife,  and  to  them  were  born 
the  giants.1 

Others  say  that  the  posterity  of  the  patriarch  Seth  were 
those  called  the  “  Sons  of  God,”  because  they  lived  on  Mount 
Hermon  in  familiar  discourse  with  the  angels.  On  this  moun¬ 
tain  they  fed  only  on  the  fruit  of  the  earth,  and  their  sole  oath 
was  “  By  the  blood  of  Abel.”  2 

Among  the  giants  was  Surkrag,  of  whom  we  have  already 
related  a  few  particulars.  He  was  not  of  the  race  of  men,  nor 
of  the  posterity  of  Adam.  According  to  the  Mussulman  ac¬ 
count  he  was  commander  of  the  armies  of  Soliman  Tchaghi, 
who  reigned  over  the  earth  before  the  time  of  Gian  ben  Gian, 
who  succeeded  him  and  reigned  seven  thousand  years.  The 
whole  earth  was  then  in  the  power  of  the  Jins.  Gian  ben  Gian 
erected  the  pyramids  of  Egypt. 

Surkrag  obeyed  God,  and  followed  the  true  religion,  and 
would  not  suffer  his  subject  Jins  to  insult  or  maltreat  the  de¬ 
scendants  of  Adam.  He  reigned  on  Mount  Kaf,  and  allied 
himself,  according  to  Persian  authorities,  with  Ka'iumarth,  the 
first  king  of  the  world,  whom  some  Persian  writers  identify 
with  Adam,  but  others  suppose  to  be  the  son  of  Mahalaleel, 
and  cotemporary  with  Enoch.  Ferdusi,  the  author  of  the 
-Schah-NYimeh,  speaks  of  him  as  the  first  who  wore  a  crown 
and  sat  on  a  throne,  and  imposed  a  tribute  on  his  subjects. 
He  says  that  this  monarch  lived  a  thousand  years,  and  reign¬ 
ed  five  hundred  and  fifty  years.  He  was  the  first  to  teach  men 
to  build  houses. 

But  if  Ka'umarth  was  the  first  man  to  reign,  he  was  the 
first  also  to  weary  of  it ;  for  he  abdicated  his  sovereignty  and  re¬ 
tired  into  his  former  abode,  a  cave,  after  having  surrendered 
v  his  authority  to  his  son  Siamek.  Siamek  having  been  killed, 
Ka'iumarth  re-ascended  his  throne  to  revenge  his  death.  After 

1  Abulfaraj,  p.  6. 

1  Eutych.  Patriarcha  Alex.,  Annales  ab  Orbe  Cojidito,  Arabice  et  L&L, 
ed.  Selden  ;  London,  1642,  i.  p.  19. 


y4 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


having  recovered  the  body  of  his  son,  he  buried  him  with  great 
honors,  and  kindled  over  his  grave  a  great  fire,  which  was 
kept  perpetually  burning,  and  this  originated  the  worship  of 
fire  among  the  people  of  Iran. 

Kaiumarth  overcame  the  giant  Semendoun,  who  had  a 
hundred  arms ;  his  son,  Huschenk,  also  overcame  a  giant  who 
had  three  heads,  mounted  on  an  animal  with  twelve  legs. 
This  animal,  namad  Rakhsche,  was  found  by  him  in  the  Dog 
Isle,  or  the  New  Continent,  and  was  born  of  the  union  of  a 
crocodile  and  an  hippopotamus,  and  it  fed  on  the  flesh  of  ser¬ 
pents.  Having  mastered  this  beast,  Huschenk  overcame  the 
Mahisers,  which  have  heads  of  fish  and  are  of  great  ferocity. 
After  having  extended  his  conquests  to  the  extremities  of  the 
earth,  Huschenk  was  crushed  to  death  by  a  mass  of  rock  which 
the  giants,  his  mortal  enemies,  hurled  against  him.1 

According  to  Tabari,  Huschenk  was  the  son  of  Kaiumarth, 
who  was  the  son  of  Mahalaleel.  He  was  the  first  man  to  cut 
down  trees  and  to  make  boards,  and  fashion  them  into  doors 
to  close  the  entrance  to  houses.  He  also  discovered  many 
precious  stones,  such  as  the  topaz  and  jacinth.  He  reigned 
four  hundred  years.8 

He  was  succeeded  by  Tahmourath,  who  taught  men  to  sad¬ 
dle  and  bridle  horses ;  he  was  also  the  first  man  to  write  in 
Persian  characters  ;  he  figures  as  a  great  hero  in  Iranian  fable. 
According  to  the  story  in  Persia,  he  was  carried  by  the  Simorg 
to  the  mountain  of  Kaf.  Now  the  Simorg  is  a  wondrous  bird, 
speaking  all  languages,  and  eminently  religious. 

According  to  the  Kaherman  Nameh,  the  bird  Simorg,  be¬ 
ing  asked  its  age,  replied,  “  This  world  has  been  seven  times 
peopled,  and  seven  times  made  void  of  living  beings.  The 
generation  of  Adam,  in  which  we  now  are,  will  last  seven  thou¬ 
sand  years,  which  form  a  cycle,  and  I  have  seen  twelve  of 
these  revolutions.  How  many  more  I  shall  see  is  unknown  to 
me.” 

The  same  book  informs  us  that  the  Simorg  was  a  great 
friend  of  the  race  of  Adam,  and  a  great  enemy  to  the  demons 
and  Jins.  He  knew  Adam  personally,  and  had  done  obei¬ 
sance  to  him,  and  enjoyed  the  same  religion  as  our  first  fa¬ 
thers.  He  foretold  to  Tahmourath  all  that  was  to  take  place 

1  D’Herbelot,  s.  v.  Surkrag  and  Kaiumarth 
'l  Tabari,  C.  xxxvii. 


THE  GIANTS. 


95 


in  the  world,  and  plucking  from  his  bosom  some  feathers,  he 
presented  them  to  him.  and  from  that  time  all  great  captains 
and  men  of  war  wear  feather  crests. 

Tahmourath  having  been  transported  by  the  bird  to  the 
mountains  of  Kaf,  he  assisted  the  Peris,  who  were  at  war  with 
the  Jins.  Argenk,  the  giant,  finding  that  the  Peris  were  gain¬ 
ing  the  mastery,  with  the  assistance  of  Tahmourath,  sent  an 
embassy  desiring  peace  ;  but  the  ambassador,  Imlain,  aban¬ 
doned  the  party  of  the  Jins  and  assisted  Tahmourath  to  obtain 
complete  mastery  in  the  mountains  of  Kaf,  and  to  overcome 
not  only  the  giant  Argenk,  but  also  Demrusch,  a  far  more  ter¬ 
rible  monster.  Demrusch  lived  in  a  cavern  guarding  a  vast 
treasure,  which  he  had  amassed  in  Persia  and  India.  He 
had  also  carried  off  the  Peri  Mergian.  Tahmourath  slew 
Demrusch  and  released  Mergian. 

According  to  the  Persian  story,  Tahmourath  was  the  first 
to  cultivate  rice,  and  to  nourish  silk-worms  in  the  province  of 
Tabristan.1 

To  return  to  Tabari. 

Djemschid  was  the  brother  of  Tahmourath  ;  he  was  the  first 
man  to  forge  arms,  and  he  is  probably  to  be  identified  with 
Tubal-cain.  He  introduced  also  the  use  of  pigments,  and  he 
discovered  pearls,  and  also  to  dig  for  lime,  vermilion,  and 
quicksilver ;  he  likewise  compounded  scents,  and  cultivated 
flowers.  He  divided  all  men  into  four  classes, — soldiers, 
scribes,  agriculturists,  and  artisans.  At  the  head  of  all  he 
placed  the  learned,  that  they  might  guide  the  affairs  of  men, 
and  set  them  their  tasks  and  instruct  them  in  what  they  were 
to  do. 

Then  Djemschid  asked  the  wise  men,  “What  must  a  king 
do  to  secure  his  throne  ?  ” 

They  answered,  “  He  must  reign  in  equity.” 

Consequently,  Djemschid  instituted  justice;  and  he  sat  the 
first  day  of  every  month  with  his  wise  men,  and  ministered 
righteous  judgments.  For  seven  hundred  years  he  continued 
this  practice  ;  and  in  all  that  time  no  rebellion  broke  out,  no 
afflictions  troubled  him,  nor  was  his  reign  in  any  way  menaced. 

One  day,  whilst  Djemschid  was  taking  his  siesta  alone  in  his 
chamber,  Eblis  entered  by  the  window,  and  Djemschid  asked, 
“  Who  art  thou  ?  ”  Now  he  thought  he  was  one  of  those  who 


1  DTIerbelot,  s.  v.  T&hmoar&ih. 


96 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


waited  without  till  he  should  come  forth  to  administer  justice. 
Eblis  entered  into  conversation  with  Djemschid,  and  said,  “I 
am  an  angel,  and  I  have  descended  from  heaven  to  give  thee 
counsel.” 

“  What  counsel  dost  thou  offer  ?  ”  asked  the  king. 

Eblis  replied,  “Tell  me,  who  thou  art  ?” 

He  answered,  “  I  am  one  of  the  sons  of  Adam.” 

“Thou  mistakest,”  said  the  Evil  One  :  “  thou  art  not  a  man. 
Consider,  since  thou  hast  reigned,  has  any  thing  failed  thee  ? 
Hast  thou  suffered  any  affliction,  any  loss,  any  revolt?  If  thou 
wert  a  son  of  Adam,  sorrow  would  be  thy  lot.  Nay,  verily,  thou 
art  a  god  !  ” 

“  And  what  sign  canst  thou  show  me  of  my  divinity  ?  ” 

“  I  am  an  angel.  Mortal  man  cannot  behold  an  angel,  and 
live.” 

Then  he  vanished.  Djemschid  fell  into  the  snare  of  pride. 

Next  day  he  caused  a  great  fire  to  be  lighted,  and  he  called 
together  all  men  and  said  to  them,  “  I  am  a  god,  worship  me ; 
I  created  heaven  above  and  earth  beneath  ;  and  those  that  re¬ 
fuse  to  adore  me  shall  be  consumed  in  the  fire.” 

Then  from  fear  of  him  many  obeyed  ;  and  the  same  hour 
revolt  broke  out. 

There  was  a  man  named  Beyourasp  who  stirred  up  the  peo¬ 
ple,  and  led  a  great  army  against  Djemschid,  and  overcame  him, 
and  took  from  him  his  kingdom,  and  sawed  the  king  asunder 
from  the  head  to  the  feet.' 


XIL 

LAMECH. 

“  Methusael  begat  Lamech .  And  Lamech  took  unto  him  two 
wives :  the  name  of  one  was  Adah ,  and  the  name  of  the  other  Zil- 
lah.  And  Adah  bare  Jabal :  he  was  the  father  of  such  as  dwell 
in  tents ,  and  of  such  as  have  cattle.  And  his  brothers  name  was 
Jubal :  he  was  the  father  of  all  such  as  handle  the  harp  and  or¬ 
gan.  And  Zillah ,  she  also  bare  Tubal-cain ,  an  instructor  of  ev¬ 
ery  artificer  in  brass  and  iron  :  and  the  sister  of  Tubal-cain  was 
Naamah.  And  Lamech  said  unto  his  wives ,  Adah  and  Zillah , 
Hear  my  voice ;  ye  suives  of  Lamech ,  hearken  unto  my  speech  : 
for  L  have  slain  a  man  to  my  wounding,  and  a  young  man  to  my 

*  Tabari,  caps,  xxxix.  xi. 


r 


LAM  ECU. 


91 


hurt.  If  Cain  shall  be  avenged  sevenfold,  truly  Isimech  seventy¬ 
fold .M1 

The  speech  of  Lamech  points  to  a  tradition  unrecorded  in 
the  Sacred  Text,  with  which  the  Israelites  were  probably  well 
acquainted,  and  which  therefore  did  not  need  repetition  ;  oi 
else,  there  has  been  a  paragraph  dropped  out  of  the  original 
text.  The  speech  is  sufficiently  mysterious  to  raise  our  curi¬ 
osity.  Whom  had  Lamech  slain  ?  and  why  should  Lamech  be 
avenged  ? 

The  Targums  throw  no  light  on  the  passage,  merely  para¬ 
phrasing  it,  without  supplying  the  key  to  the  speech  of  La¬ 
mech.  a  But  Rabbinic  tradition  is  unanimous  on  its  signifi 
cation.  The  book  Jasher  says  that*  in  those  days  men  did  not 
love  to  have  children,  therefore  they  gave  their  wives  drink  to 
make  them  sterile.  Zillah  had  taken  this  drink,  and  she  was 
barren  till  in  her  old  age  she  bare  Tubal-cain  and  Naamah. 
Now  Lamech  became  blind  in  his  old  age,  and  he  was  led 
about  by  the  boy  Tubal-cain.  Tubal-cain  saw  Cain  in  the  dis¬ 
tance,  and  supposing  from  the  horn  on  his  forehead  that  he  was 
a  beast,  he  said  to  his  father,  “  Span  thy  brow  and  shoot  !  ” 
Then  the  old  man  discharged  his  arrow,  and  Cain  fell  dead. 

But  when  he  ascertained  that  he  had  slain  his  great  ances¬ 
tor,  he  smote  his  hands  together,  and  in  so  doing,  by  accident 
struck  his  son  and  killed  him.  Therefore  his  wives  were  wroth 
and  would  have  no  communication  with  him.  But  ho  ap¬ 
peased  them  with  the  words  recorded  in  Genesis.*  The  same 
story  is  told  in  the  book  of  the  “  Combat  with  Adam.” 

Some  Jewish  writers  adopt  a  tradition  that  Tubal-cain  was 
not  slain,  but  was  severely  injured  by  his  father  ;  according  to 
some,  he  was  lamed.  Connecting  this  tradition  with  his  name, 
a  striking  analogy  springs  up  between  him  and  the  Vulcan  of 
classic  antiquity,  and  the  Volundr  of  Norse  mythology.  Both 
were  lame,  both  were  forgers  of  iron,  and  the  names  Vulcan 
and  Volundr  bear  some  affinity  to  Tubal-cain  ;  for  cutting  off 
Tu,  we  have  Balcain  or  Vulcan.  A  very  learned  and  exhaust¬ 
ive  monograph  on  Volundr  has  been  written  by  MM.  Depping 
and  Michel.1 * * 4 


1  Gen.  iv.  18-24.  *  Targums,  ed.  Etheridge,  i.  p.  173. 

*  Yaschar,  tr.  Drach,  p.  IO92 ;  the  same  in  Midrash  Jalkut,  c.  38, 

Midrash,  Par.  Beroschith,  fol.  1  ;  Rabbi  Raschi  on  Genesis  ;  etc.,  eAc. 

4  Veland  le  Forgeron  ;  Paris,  1833.  There  is  an  English  translation 
tf  Wright. 


g8  OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 

Tubal  is  said  by  Tabari  to  have  discovered  the  art  of  fer¬ 
menting  the  juice  of  the  grape,  as  well  as  that  of  music.  Eblis 
deceived  the  young  man,  who  was  full  of  gayety,  and  taught 
him  many  things,  amongst  others  how  to  make  wine.  Tubal 
took  grapes  and  crushed  them,  and  made  must,  and  let  it 
grow  bitter.  Then  he  took  it  and  put  it  in  a  glass  jug.  He 
made  flutes,  lutes,  cymbals,  and  drums.  When  he  began  to 
drink  the  wine  he  had  made,  he  jumped  and  danced.  All  the 
sons  of  Cain  looked  on,  and,  pleased  with  his  merriment,  they 
also  drank  and  played  on  the  instruments  Tubal  had  made.1 

Naamah,  the  sister  of  Tubal-cain,  became  the  wife  of  the 
devil  Schomron,  by  whom  she  became  the  mother  of  Asmo- 
deus.2 


XIII. 

METHUSELAH. 

It  is  related  that  an  angel  appeared  to  Methuselah,  who 
was  then  aged  five  hundred  years,  and  lived  in  the  open  air, 
and  advised  him  to  build  a  house.  The  Patriarch  asked  how 
long  he  had  to  live.  “  About  five  hundred  years  more,”  an¬ 
swered  the  angel.  “  Then,”  said  Methuselah,  “  it  is  not 
wrorth  taking  the  trouble  for  so  short  a  time.”  3 

“  Methuselah,”  says  the  Midrash,  “  was  a  thoroughly  right¬ 
eous  man.  Every  word  that  fell  from  his  lips  was  superlative¬ 
ly  perfect,  exhausting  the  praises  of  the  Lord.  He  had  learnt 
nine  hundred  chapters  of  the  Mischna.  At  his  death  a  fright¬ 
ful  thunder  was  heard,  and  all  beasts  burst  into  tears.  He 
was  mourned  seven  days  by  men,  and  therefore  the  outbreak 
of  the  Flood  was  postponed  till  the  mourning  was  over.”  4 
Eusebius  says,  “  He  lived  longer  than  all  who  had  pre¬ 
ceded  him.  He,  according  to  all  editions  (of  the  LXX.),  lived 
fifteen  years  after  the  Deluge,  but  where  he  was  preserved 
through  it  is  uncertain.”  5 

But  the  general  opinion  of  the  Jews  follows  the  Midrash. 
The  Rabbi  Solomon  says,  he  died  seven  days  before  the  Flood ; 
and  the  Pirke  of  Rabbi  Eliezer  and  the  Jalkut  confirm  this 

1  Tabari,  i  c.  xxi.  2  Eisenmenger,  ii.  p.  416. 

3  Coin  de  Plancy,  p,  102. 

4  Midrash,  fol.  12  ;  so  also  Tagrum  of  Palestine  Etheridge,  i.  p.  179. 

6  Chron.  Gras.,  ed.  Scalger,  Lugd  Batav.  606.  p.  4. 


NOAH. 


99 


opinion.  He  is  said  to  have  pronounced  three  hundred  and 
thirty  parables  to  the  honor  of  the  Most  High.  But  the  origin 
of  this  is  to  be  traced  to  the  Cabbalists,  who  say  that,  by  trans¬ 
position  of  the  letters  of  his  name,  the  anagram  “  He  who 
prophesied  in  parables  ”  can  be  read.1 

He  had  a  sword  inscribed  with  the  Schem  hammphorasch 
(the  Incommunicable  Name),  and  with  it  he  succeeded  in  slay* 
ing  a  thousand  devils.* 


XIV. 

NOAH. 

The  earth  being  filled  with  violence,  God  resolved  on  its 
destruction,  but  Noah,  the  just,  He  purposed  to  save  alive. 

On  the  words  of  Genesis,  “  All flesh  had  corrupted  his  way 
upon  the  earth ,”  the  Rabbi  Johanan  taught  that  not  only  was 
the  race  of  men  utterly  demoralized,  but  also  all  the  races  of 
animals.3 

Noah  and  his  family,  and  one  pair  of  all  the  beasts  of  earth, 
were  to  be  saved  in  the  ark,  but  of  eveiy  clean  beast  seven 
were  to  enter  in.  Falsehood  hastened  to  the  ark  and  asked  to 
be  admitted  ;  Noah  refused.  “  I  admit  the  animals  only  in 
pairs,”  said  he. 

Then  Falsehood  went  away  in  wrath,  and  met  Injustice,  who 
said — 

“  Why  art  thou  so  sad  ?  ” 

“  I  have  been  refused  admittance  into  the  ark,  for  I  am  sin¬ 
gle,”  said  Falsehood  ;  “be  thou  my  companion.” 

“  See,  now,”  answered  Injustice,  “  I  take  no  companionship 
without  prospect  of  gain.” 

“  Fea  r  not,”  said  Falsehood,  “  I  will  spread  the  toils  and 
thou  shalt  have  the  booty.” 

So  they  went  together  to  the  ark,  and  Noah  was  unable  to 
refuse  them  admission.  And  when  the  Flood  was  passed  and 
the  beasts  went  forth  out  of  the  ark,  Falsehood  said  angrily 
“  I  have  done  my  work  and  have  caused  evil,  but  thou  hast  all 
the  plunder  ;  share  with  me.” 

1  Fabricius,  i.  p.  225.  *  Eisenmengcr,  i.  p.  651. 

*  Talmud,  Tractat.  Sanhedrin,  foL  108,  col.  I.  So  also  the  Book  Yas 
char,  p.  1097. 


Too  OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS.  [xiv. 

“  Thou  fool  I”  answered  Injustice,  “dost  thou  forget  the 
agreement  ?  Thine  it  is  to  spread  the  net,  mine  alone  to  take 
the  spoil.”  1 

At  the  time  of  the  Deluge  the  giants  were  not  all  drowned, 
for  Og  planted  his  foot  upon  the  fountains  of  the  great  deep, 
and  with  his  hands  stopped  the  windows  of  heaven,  or  the 
water  would  have  risen  over  his  head.  The  Rabbi  Eliezer2 
said  that  the  giants  exclaimed,  when  the  flood  broke  out,  “  If 
all  the  waters  of  the  earth  be  gathered  together,  they  will  only 
reach  our  waists;  but  if  the  fountains  of  the  great  deep  be  bro¬ 
ken  up,  we  must  stamp  them  down  again.”  And  this  they  did, 
but  God  made  the  waters  boiling  hot,  and  it  scalded  them  so 
that  their  flesh  was  boiled  and  fell  off  their  bones.3  But 
what  became  of  Og  in  the  Deluge  we  learn  from  the  Tal¬ 
mud.4  He  went  into  the  water  along  with  a  rhinoceros6  be¬ 
side  the  ark,  and  clung  to  it;  now  the  water  round  the  ark 
was  cold,  but  all  the  rest  was  boiling  hot.  Thus  he  was 
saved  alive,  whereas  the  other  giants  perished. 

According  to  another  authority,  Og  climbed  on  the  roof 
of  the  ark;  and  on  Noah  attempting  to  dislodge  him,  he 
swore  that,  if  allowed  to  remain  there,  he  and  his  posterity 
would  be  the  slaves  of  the  sons  of  Noah.  Thereupon  the 
patriarch  yielded.  He  bored  a  hole  in  the  side  of  the  ves¬ 
sel,  and  passed  through  it  every  day  the  food  necessary  for 
the  giant’s  consumption.0 

It  is  asserted  by  some  Rabbinic  writers  that  the  Deluge  did 
not  overflow  the  land  of  Israel,  but  was  partial  ;  some  say  the 
Holy  Land  was  alone  left  dry,  and  a  rhinoceros  had  taken  ref¬ 
uge  on  it  and  so  escaped  being  drowned.  But  others  say  that 
the  land  of  Israel  was  submerged,  though  all  agree  that  the 
rhinoceros  survived  without  having  entered  the  ark.  And  they 
explain  the  escape  of  the  rhinoceros  in  this  manner.  Its  head 
was  taken  into  the  ark,  and  it  swam  behind  the  vessel.  Now 
the  rhinoceros  is  a  very  large  animal,  and  could  not  be  admit¬ 
ted  into  the  ark  lest  it  should  swamp  it.  The  Rabbi  Jannai 
say,  she  saw  a  young  rhinoceros  of  a  day  old,  and  it  was  as  big 
as  Mount  Tabor;  and  Tabor’s  dimensions  are  forty  miles.  Its 

1  Jalkut,  Genesis,  fol.  14a. 

2  Jalkut  Shimoni,  Job.  fol.  121,  col.  2. 

3  Eisenmenger.  i.  p.  385.  The  Targurrj  of  Palestine  says  the  water 
was  hot  (i.  p.  179). 

4  Tractat.  Sevachim,  fol.  113,  col.  2. 

6  Or,  a  unicorn  ;  the  Hebrew  word  is  Re6m.  6  Midrash,  fol.  14. 


NO  AIL 


IOI 


neck  was  three  miles  long,  and  its  head  half  a  mile.  It  drop¬ 
ped  dung,  and  the  dung  choked  up  Jordan.  Other  commen¬ 
tators  object  that  the  head  was  too  large  to  be  admitted  into  the 
ark,  and  supposed  that  only  the  tip  of  its  nose  was  received. 
But  as  the  ark  swayed  on  the  waters,  Noah  tied  the  horn  of  the 
rhinoceros  to  the  side  of  the  vessel,  lest  the  beast’s  nose  should 
slip  off  in  a  lurch  of  the  ark,  and  so  the  creature  perish. 

All  this  is  from  the  Talmud. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  some  of  the  Mussulman  legends  of 
Noah.  His  history  is  briefly  related  in  the  Koran,  in  the 
chapter  entitled  “  Hud.” 

“  Noah  built  the  ark  with  our  assistance  and  that  of  the 
angels,  following  the  knowledge  we  revealed  to  him,  and  we 
said  to  him  :  Speak  no  more  in  behalf  of  the  sinners ;  they 
shall  all  be  drowned. 

“  Whilst  Noah  was  building  his  ark,  all  those  who  passed 
by  mocked  him  ;  but  he  said  to  them  :  Though  you  rail  at  me 
now,  the  time  will  come  when  I  shall  rail  at  you  ;  for  you  will 
learn,  to  your  cost,  Who  it  is  that  punishes  the  wicked  in  this 
world,  and  reserves  for  them  a  further  punishment  in  the  world 
to  come.” 

In  the  annals  of  Eutychius  of  Alexandria,  who  wrote  in 
Egypt  in  the  tenth  century,  and  who  probably  quoted  from 
apocryphal  documents  now  perished,  we  read  that,  before  the 
Flood  broke  out,  Noah  made  a  bell  of  plane  wood,  about  five 
feet  high,  which  he  sounded  every  day,  morning,  noon,  and 
evening.  When  any  one  asked  him  why  he  did  so,  he  re¬ 
plied,  “  To  warn  you  that  God  will  send  a  deluge  to  destroy 
you  all.” 

Eutychius  adds  some  further  particulars. 

“  Before  they  entered  the  ark,”  says  he,  “  Noah  and  his 
sons  went  to  the  cave  of  Elcanuz,  where  lay  the  bodies  of 
Adam,  Seth,  Cainan,  Mahalaleel,  Jared,  Methuselah,  and 
Lamech.  He  kissed  his  dead  ancestors,  and  bore  off  the  body 
of  Adam  together  with  precious  oblations.  Shem  bore  gold  ; 
Ham  took  myrrh  ;  and  Japheth  incense.  Having  gone  forth, 
as  they  decended  the  Holy  Mount  they  lifted  their  eyes  to 
Paradise,  which  crowned  it  and  said,  with  tears,  *  Farewell  ! 
Holy  Paradise,  farewell  !  ’  and  they  kissed  the  stones  and  em¬ 
braced  the  trees  of  the  Holy  Mount.”  1 

1  Eutych.  Patriarcha  Alex.,  ed.  Selden.  i.  p.  36. 


102 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


Ibn  Abbas,  one  of  the  commentators  on  the  Koran,  adds, 
that  Noah  being  in  doubt  as  to  the  shape  he  was  to  give  to 
the  ark,  God  revealed  to  him  that  it  was  to  be  modelled  on 
the  plan  of  a  bird’s  belly,  and  that  it  was  to  be  constructed 
of  teak  wood.  Noah  planted  the  tree,  and  in  twenty  years  it 
grew  to  such  a  size  that  out  of  it  he  was  able  to  build  the 
entire  ark.1 

To  return  to  the  Koran. 

“  When  the  time  prescribed  for  the  punishment  of  men  was 
arrived,  and  the  oven  began  to  boil  and  vomit,  we  said  to 
Noah  :  Take  and  bring  into  the  ark  two  couples  of  every  kind 
of  animal,  male  and  female,  with  all  your  family,  except  him 
who  has  been  condemned  by  your  mouth,  and  receive  the 
faithful,  and  even  the  unbelievers  ;  but  few  only  will  enter.” 

The  interpreters  of  the  Koran  say  that  the  ark  was  built  in 
two  years.  They  give  it  the  dimensions  mentioned  in  Genesis  : 
— three  stages,  that  on  the  top  for  the  birds,  the  middle  one 
for  the  men  and  the  provisions,  whilst  the  beasts  occupied  the 
hold.  The  sign  of  the  outburst  of  the  Flood  was  that  water 
flowed  out  of  the  burning  oven  of  Noah’s  wife.  Then  all  the 
veins  and  arteries  of  the  earth  broke  and  spirted  out  water. 
He  who  was  excluded  was  Canaan,  the  son  of  Ham,  whom  he 
had  cursed.  But  Abulfeda  says  that  it  was  Jam,  a  fourth  son 
of  Noah,  who  was  excluded  from  the  ark.2  The  Persians  say 
that  Ham  incurred  his  father’s  malediction  as  well,  and,  for 
that,  he  and  his  posterity  became  black  and  were  enslaved  ; 
but  that  Noah,  grieved  for  his  son’s  progeny,  prayed  God  to 
have  mercy  on  them,  and  God  made  the  slave  to  be  loved  and 
cherished  by  his  master. 

The  Koran  says,  “  Noah  having  entered  the  ark  with  his 
wife  (Noema,  daughter  of  Enoch,  according  to  the  Yaschar  , 
Noria,  according  to  the  Gnostics ;  Vesta,  according  to  the 
Cabbalists),  and  his  three  sons,  Shem,  Ham,  and  Japheth,  and 
their  wives,  the  three  daughters  of  Eliakim,  son  of  Methuselah, 
he  said  to  those  who  dwell  on  the  earth,  ‘  Embark  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord.’ 

“  And  whilst  he  thus  spake,  the  ark  advanced  oi  halted, 
according  to  his  order,  in  the  name  of  God-” 

But  the  Yaschar  says  that  the  ungodly  dwellers  on  the 
earth,  finding  the  Flood  rising,  hastened  in  such  crowds  to  the 


1  Tabari,  p.  108- 


2  Abulfeda,  p.  17. 


NOAH. 


103 


ark,  that  they  would  have  overfilled  it,  had  not  the  lions  and 
other  animals  within  defended  the  entrance  and  repulsed 
them.1 

According  to  some  Oriental  traditions,  Noah  embarked  at 
Koufah ;  according  to  others,  near  where  Babylon  was  after¬ 
wards  erected  ;  but  some  say  in  India  ;  and  some  affirm  that 
in  the  six  months  during  which  the  Deluge  lasted,  the  ark 
made  the  circuit  of  the  world.2 

Noah,  seeing  that  his  grandson  Canaan  was  not  on 
board,  called  to  him,  and  said,  “  Embark,  my  child,  and  do 
not  remain  among  the  ungodly.” 

But  Canaan  replied,  “  I  will  ascend  the  mountains,  and 
shall  be  safe  there.” 

“  Nothing  can  save  thee  to-day  but  the  mercy  of  God,” 
said  Noah. 

Whilst  thus  speaking,  a  wave  rushed  between  them  and 
submerged  Canaan. 

After  forty  days,  the  ark  swam  from  one  end  of  the  earth 
to  the  other,  over  the  highest  mountains.  Over  mount 
Kubeis,  chosen  by  God  in  which  to  preserve  the  sacred  black 
stone  of  the  Kaaba,  the  ark  revolved  seven  times.3 

Tabari  says  that  Noah  had  four  sons,  and  that  of  these 
Canaan  was  the  youngest,  and  that  the  three  elder  believed 
in  his  mission,  but  his  wife  and  Canaan  laughed  at  his  pre¬ 
dictions.  The  animals  that  were  brought  into  the  ark  were 
collected  and  wafted  to  it  by  the  wind.  When  the  ass  was 
about  to  enter,  Eblis  (Satan)  caught  hold  of  its  tail.  The 
ass  came  on  slowly  ;  Noah  was  impatient,  and  exclaimed, 
“  You  cursed  one,  come  in  quick.” 

When  Eblis  was  within,  Noah  saw  him,  and  said,  “  What 
right  have  you  in  here  ?  ” 

“  I  have  entered  at  your  invitation,”  answered  the  Evil  One. 
“  You  said,  ‘Cursed  one,  come  in  ;  ’  I  am  the  accursed  one. 

When  six  months  had  passed,  the  ark  rested  on  the  sur¬ 
face  of  the  water  above  Djondi,  4  and  the  rain  ceased  to  fall, 
and  God  said  to  the  earth,  “  Suck  in  the  water  ;  ”  and  to  the 
sky,  “  Withhold  thy  rains.”  The  water  abated  ;  and  the  ark 
lodged  on  the  top  of  the  mountain. 

“  There  left  the  ark  two  sorts  of  animals  which  had  not 
entered  it — the  pig  and  the  cat.  These  animals  did  not  exist 

1  Yaschar,  p.  1100.  3  Colin  de  Plancy,  p.  no. 

2  Weil,  p.  45.  4  Ararat. 


104  OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS.  [xiv. 

before  the  Deluge,  and  God  created  them  in  the  ark  because 
it  was  full  of  filth  and  human  excrements,  which  caused  a 
great  stench.  The  persons  in  the  ark,  not  being  able  to 
endure  any  longer  the  smell,  complained  to  Noah.  Then 
Noah  passed  his  hand  down  the  back  of  the  elephant,  and 
it  evacuated  the  pig.  The  pig  ate  all  the  dung  which  was 
in  the  ark,  and  the  stench  was  no  more. 

“  Some  time  after  the  rats  gave  great  annoyance.  They 
ate  the  food,  and  befouled  what  they  did  not  eat.  Then 
the  voyagers  went  to  Noah,  and  said  to  him,  You  delivered 
us  in  our  former  difficulty,  but  now  we  are  plagued  with 
rats,  which  gnaw  our  garments,  eat  our  victuals,  and  cover 
every  thing  with  their  filth.  Then  Noah  passed  his  hand 
down  the  back  of  the  lion,  who  sneezed,  and  the  cat  leaped 
out  of  its  nose.  And  the  cat  ate  the  rats. 

“  When  Noah  had  left  the  ark,  he  passsed  forty  days  on  the 
mountain,  till  all  the  water  had  subsided  into  the  sea.  All 
the  briny  water  that  is  there  is  what  remains  from  the  Flood. 

“  Noah  said  to  the  raven,  Go  and  place  your  foot  on  the 
earth  and  see  what  is  the  depth  of  the  water.  The  raven 
departed  ;  but,  having  found  a  carcase,  it  remained  to  de¬ 
vour  it,  and  did  not  return.  Noah  was  provoked,  and  he 
cursed  the  raven,  saying,  May  God  make  thee  contemptible 
among  men  and  let  carrion  be  thy  food  ! 

“  After  that  Noah  sent  forth  the  dove.  The  dove  de¬ 
parted,  and,  without  tarrying,  put  her  feet  in  the  water.  The 
water  of  the  Flood  scalded  and  pickled  the  legs  of  the  dove. 
It  was  hot  and  briny,  and  feathers  would  not  grow  on  her 
legs  any  more,  and  the  skin  scaled  off.  Now,  doves  which 
have  red  and  featherless  legs  are  of  the  sort  that  Noah  sent 
forth.  The  dove  returning  showed  her  legs  to  Noah,  who 
said,  May  God  render  thee  well-pleasing  to  men  !  For  that 
reason  the  dove  is  dear  to  men’s  hearts.”  1 

Another  version  of  the  story  is  this.  Noah  blessed  the 
dove,  and  since  then  she  has  borne  a  neck-ring  of  green 
feathers  ;  but  the  raven,  on  the  other  hand,  he  cursed,  that 
its  flight  should  be  crooked,  and  never  direct  like  that  of 
other  birds.2  This  is  also  a  Jewish  legend. 3 

After  that,  Noah  descended  the  mountain  along  with  the 
eighty  persons  who  had  been  saved  with  him,  and  he  found 

1  Tabari,  c.  xli.  2  Weil,  p.  45.  3  Midrash,  fol.  15, 


MO  All, 


io5 


that  not  a  house  was  left  standing  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 
Noah  built  a  town  consisting  of  eighty  houses, — a  house  apiece 
for  all  who  had  been  saved  with  him.1 

Fabricius,  in  his  collection  of  apocrypha  of  the  Old  Testa¬ 
ment,  has  published  the  prayer  that  Noah  offered  daily  in  the 
ark,  beside  the  body  of  Adam,  v/hich  he  bore  with  him,  tc 
bury  it  on  Golgotha. 

“O  Lord,  Thou  art  excellent  in  truth,  and  nothing  is  great 
beside  Thee ;  look  upon  us  in  mercy ;  deliver  us  from  this 
deluge  of  water  for  the  sake  of  the  pangs  of  Adam,  the  first 
man  whom  Thou  didst  make ;  for  the  sake  of  the  blood  of 
Abel,  the  holy  one  ;  for  the  sake  of  just  Seth,  in  whom  Thou 
didst  delight ;  number  us  not  amongst  those  who  have  broken 
Thy  commandments,  but  cover  us  with  Thy  protection,  for 
Thou  art  our  deliverer,  and  to  Thee  alone  are  due  the  praises 
uttered  by  the  works  of  Thy  hands  from  all  eternity.”  And 
all  the  children  of  Noah  responded,  “  Amen,  O  Lord.” 2 

Noah  is  said  to  have  left  the  ark  on  the  tenth  day  of  the 
first  month  of  the  Mussulman  year,  and  to  have  instituted  the 
fast  which  the  Mahommedans  observe  on  that  day,  to  thank 
God  for  his  deliverance. 

According  to  the  Book  of  Enoch,  the  water  of  the  Flood 
was  transformed  by  God  into  fire,  which  will. consume  the 
world  and  the  ungodly,  at  the  consummation  of  all  things. 3 

The  Targum  of  Palestine  says  that  the  dove  plucked  the 
leaf  she  brought  to  Noah  from  off  a  tree  on  the  Mount  of 
Olives.4 

The  Book  Jasher  supplies  an  omission  in  Genesis.  In 
Genesis  it  is  said  of  Lamech,  on  the  birth  of  Noah,  “  He  called 
his  name  Noah ;  saying, ,  This  same  shall  comfort  us  concerning 
our  ivork  and  toil  of  our  hands ,  because  of  the  ground  which  the 
Lord  hath  cursed ;  ”  6  but  Noah  signifies  rest ,  not  comfort  The 
Book  Jasher  says  that  the  Methuselah  called  the  child  Noah, 
rest ,  because  the  land  rested  from  the  curse  ;  but  Lamech  call¬ 
ed  him  Menahem,  comfort,  for  the  reason  given  in  the  text  of 
Genesis.  The  sacred^writer  has  given  one  name  with  the  sig¬ 
nification  of  the  other.6 

1  Tabari,  p.  113.  *  Fabricus,  i.  pp.  74,  243. 

*  Ed.  Dillmann,  c.  67.  4  Ed.  Etheridge,  i.  p.  i32.  8  Gen.  v.  20. 

6  In  the  Midrash  Rabba,  this  want  of  connection  between  the  name 
and  the  signification  s  remarked  upon,  and  Solomon  Jarki  in  hiscommen. 
tary  says  that,  for  the  meaning  assigned,  the  name  ought  to  have  been,  not 
Noah,  but  Menahem. 

5* 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


10G 


XV. 

HEATHEN  LEGENDS  OF  THE  DELUGE. 

Ararat  has  borne  this  name  for  three  thousand  years. 
We  read  in  the  Book  of  Genesis  that  “  the  ark  rested,  in  the 
seventh  month ,  o?i  the  seventeenth  day  of  the  month ,  upon  the 
mountains  of  Ararat.”  In  passages  of  the  Old  Testament,  as 
in  Isaiah  xxxvii,  38  and  2  Kings  xix.  37,  mention  is  made  of 
a  land,  in  Jeremiah  li.  27  of  a  kingdom,  of  Ararat;  and  we 
are  likewise  informed  by  Moses  of  Chorene,  the  first  authority 
among  Armenian  writers,  that  an  entire  country  bore  this  name 
after  an  ancient  Armenian  king,  Arai  the  Fair,  who  lived  about 
I75°  years  before  Christ.  He  fell  in  a  bloody  battle  with  the 
Babylonians  on  a  plain  in  Armenia,  called  after  him  Arai-Arat, 
the  Fall  of  Arai. 

Before  this  event  the  country  bore  the  name  of  Amasia, 
from  its  sovereign,  Amassis,  the  sixth  in  descent  from  Japheth, 
who  gave  the  name  of  Massis  to  the  mountain.  This  is  still 
the  only  name  by  which  it  is  known  to  the  Armenians  ;  for, 
though  it  is  called  Ararat  in  the  Armenian  edition  of  the  Old 
Testament,  yet  the  people  call  it  Massis,  and  know  no  other 
name  for  ;t.  The  Mussulmans  call  it  Agridagh,  the  strong 
mountain.  The  name  by  which  it  is  known  to  the  Persians 
is  Kuhi-Nuh,  the  mountain  of  Noah,  or  Saad-dagh,  the  Blessed 
Mountain.1 

But  tradition  is  not  at  one  as  to  the  peak  on  which  the  ark 
rested,  or  from  which  Noah  descended,  as  we  shall  presently 
see.  Ararat  is  17,210  feet  in  altitude  above  the  sea,  and 
14,320  feet  above  the  plain  of  the  Araxes.  On  the  north¬ 
eastern  slope  of  the  mountain,  even  from  a  distance,  may  be 
seen  a  deep,  gloomy  chasm,  which  gives  the  appearance  as  if 
the  mountain  had  been  rent  asunder  at  the  top  :  this  was  prob¬ 
ably  at  some  remote  period  the  volcanic  vent,  for  the  moun¬ 
tain  is  composed  of  tufa,  scoria,  and  erupted  matter.  It 
shoots  up  in  one  rigid  crest,  and  then  sweeps  down  towards 

1  Buttmann,  Ueber  der  Mythus  d.  Sundfluth,  Berlin,  1819;  Lukes 
Die  Traditionen  des  Menschengeschlechts,  Munster.  1856  ;  Bryant,  Of 
the  Deluge  in  Ancient  Mythology,  London  1773,  etc. 


HEATHEN-  LEGENDS  OF  THE  DEIUGR. 


107 


Little  Ararat,1  the  second  summit,  which  stands  13,000  feet 
above  the  sea.1 

The  people  of  the  neighborhood  point  to  a  step  on  the 
mountain  side,  covered  with  perpetual  snow  and  glacier,  and 
where,  say  they,  the  ark  rested ;  and  to  a  town  near  Ararat 
named  Naktschiwan,  or  “the  first  outgoing”  of  Noah  from  the 
ark.  This  etymological  interpretation  is  probably  as  question¬ 
able  as  that  of  Ararat  given  by  Moses  of  Chorene ;  it  is  true 
the  city  is  ancient,  for  it  was  severely  injured  by  an  earthquake 
in  the  reign  of  Astyages  the  Median,  in  the  sixth  century  be¬ 
fore  Christ.  It  is  called  Naxuana  by  Josephus,2  and  he  says  it 
was  so  called  because  there  Noah  first  descended  from  the 
ark,  and  that  remains  of  the  ark  were  the^e  to  be  seen  care¬ 
fully  preserved.  And  there,  says  the  Armenian  historian 
Vartan,  is  also  the  tomb  of  Noah.  Nicolas  of  Damascus,  in 
his  History  of  Syria,  Berosus  the  ancient  Babylonian  writer 
and  other  heathen  historians,  tell  a  similar  tale  ;  and  we  learn 
that  relics  of  the  ark  were  distributed  thence,  and  were  re¬ 
garded  with  the  utmost  reverence,  as  amulets. 

Nicolas  of  Damascus,  who  wrote  in  the  reign  of  Augustus, 
says,  “  There  is  beyond  the  Minyadian  land  a  great  mountain 
in  Armenia,  Baris  by  name  (perhaps  for  Masis),  on  which,  as 
the  tradition  says,  some  one  sailing  over  it  in  an  ark,  lodged 
on  the  topmost  peak.  The  remains  of  the  wood  continued  to 
exist  long.  Perhaps  this  may  be  the  same  as  he  of  whom 
Moses,  the  Jewish  historian,  has  written.”  3 

The  story  quoted  by  Eusebius  from  an  ancient  writer 
named  Molo,  gives  a  form  of  the  Syrian  tradition.  “  After  the 
Deluge,  the  man  who  with  his  sons  escaped  the  flood,  went 
out  of  Armenia,  after  he  had  been  driven  out  of  his  inheritance 
by  the  violence  of  the  natives.  He  came  thence  into  the  moun 
tains  of  Syria,  which  were  then  uninhabited.”  4  And  with  this 
agrees  a  curious  allusion  in  Lucian,  who  was  himself  a  Syrian. 
He  says  that  there  was  in  Syria,  in  the  city  Hierapolis,  a  re¬ 
ligious  festival,  and  a  very  ancient  temple,  connected  “  with 
the  popular  story  of  Deucalion  the  Scythian,  who  lived  at  the 
time  of  the  great  Deluge.”  It  is  curious  that  he  should  give 
to  the  Syrian  Noah  the  Greek  name,  and  that  he  should  speak 
of  him  as  not  a  native,  but  as  coming  from  the  East,  from  Scy- 

1  Parrot,  Journey  to  Ararat.  English  Trans.  Lond.  1845. 

2  Joseph.  Antiq.,  i.  3  ;  see  also  Ptolem.  Geogr.  vi.  2. 

*  Joseph.  Antiq.,  L  4.  4  Euseb.  Pnep.  Evang.  ix.  19. 


to8  OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 

/ 

thia.  He  says :  “  Of  this  Deucalion  have  I  heard  in  Greece, 
what  the  Greeks  relate.  The  story  is  this  :  The  present  race 
of  men  is  not  the  first,  for  that  perished.  This  is  the  second 
race  which  sprang  from  Deucalion,  and  was  very  numerous. 
The  earlier  generation  was  very  evil,  and  violated  the  Divine 
law.  They  neither  kept  oaths  nor  showed  hospitality ;  they 
took  not  the  stranger  in,  nor  protected  him  when  he  sought 
protection ;  therefore  a  terrible  destruction  fell  upon  them. 
Much  water  gushed  out  of  the  earth,  great  rains  poured  down, 
and  the  sea  rose  and  overwhelmed  the  earth.  Deucalion  alone 
of  all  men  was  preserved  to  another  generation  on  account  of 
his  wisdom  and  piety.  He  was  thus  saved.  He  went  into  a 
great  ark  which  he  had  built,  along  with  his  wife  and  children. 
Then  came  to  him,  pair  by  pair,  cows,  horses,  lions,  serpents, 
and  all  kinds  of  animals  which  are  nourished  on  earth,  and  he 
took  them  all  in.  They  did  not  hurt  him,  for  Zeus  ordained 
a  great  friendship  amongst  them.  So  they  all  sailed  in  the  ark 
as  long  as  the  flood  lasted.  This  is  the  Greek  story  of  Deu¬ 
calion. 

“But  very  wonderful  is  the  confirmation  of  the  history  as 
it  is  related  in  Hierapolis.  In  the  neighborhood  of  that  city 
a  great  chasm  opened  which  engulphed  all  the  waters  of  the 
Flood.  Thereupon  Deucalion  erected  altars,  and  dedicated  a 
temple  to  Here  (Atergatis)  over  the  chasm.  I  have  seen  this 
it  is  very  small  :  whether  it  was  once  large  but  has  since  be¬ 
come  smaller,  I  cannot  say;  but  I  saw  that  it  was  small.  For 
the  confirmation  of  the  history  the  following  takes  place :  twice 
in  the  year  the  sea-water  is  brought  into  the  temple.  Not  only 
do  the  priests  bear  it,  but  all  Syria  and  Arabia,  and  many  from 
beyond  Euphrates,  come  and  carry  water.  They  pour  it  out 
in  the  temple;  then  it  runs  down  into  the  chasm,  and,  though 
it  may  be  very  small,  it  takes  in  all  the  water  poured  into  it. 
This  they  do,  say  they,  because  Deucalion  instituted  this  rite 
as  a  memorial  of  his  deliverance,  and  of  the  mercy  of  God.”1 

Equally  fully  has  the  Babylonian  tradition  reached  us  from 
the  Chaldee  history  of  the  old  priest  of  Bel,  Berosus  (b.  c.  260). 
The  Chaldees  had  olaced  ten  kings  at  the  head  of  this  mystic 
history,  which  answer  to  the  ten  generations  in  Genesis  before 
the  Flood.  The  last  of  these  patriarchs  was  called  Xisuthrus, 
who  is  the  same  as  the  Biblical  Noah.  Berosus  relates  the 

1  Lucian,  De  Dea  Syra,  c.  12,  1 3. 


THE  DELUGE. 


109 


story  of  the  Deluge  thus :  “  Under  the  reign  of  Xisuthrus  there 
was  a  great  flood.  Kronos  (/.  e.,  Bel)  appeared  to  Xisuthrus 
in  a  dream,  and  warned  him  that  all  men  would  be  destroyed 
by  a  deluge  on  the  15  th  of  the  month  Daesios,  and  he  command¬ 
ed  him  to  write  down  all  the  learning  and  science  of  men,  and 
to  hide  it  in  the  sun-city  Siparis,  and  then  to  build  a  ship  and 
to  enter  it  along  with  his  family  and  relatives  and  nearest  friends, 
and  to  take  into  it  with  him  food  and  drink,  and  beasts  and 
winged  fowl.  When  he  was  asked  whither  he  was  a^out  to 
sail,  he  was  bidden  reply  :  To  the  gods,  to  pray  them  that  men 
may  prosper.  He  obeyed  ;  and  made  an  ark  five  stadia  long 
and  two  wide,  laid  in  what  was  commanded,  and  sailed  with 
his  wife  and  child  and  relatives.  When  the  flood  abated,  Xis¬ 
uthrus  sent  out  a  bird  which,  as  it  found  no  food  nor  ground 
on  which  to  perch,  returned  to  the  ship.  After  a  day,  he  sent 
out  another  bird ;  this  came  back  with  mud  on  its  feet.  The 
third  bird  he  sent  out  did  not  return.  So  Xisuthrus  knew 
that  the  land  appeared,  and  he  broke  a  hole  in  the  ship  and 
saw  that  the  ship  was  stranded  on  a  mountain  ;  so  he  disem¬ 
barked  with  his  wife  and  daughter  and  steersman  ;  and  when 
he  had  adored  the  earth,  raised  an  altar,  and  offered  to  the 
gods,  he  vanished.  Those  who  remained  in  the  ship  also  went 
out,  when  they  saw  that  Xisuthrus  did  not  return,  to  seek  Xis¬ 
uthrus,  and  they  called  him  by  name.  But  Xisuthrus  appear¬ 
ed  again  no  more,  only  his  voice  was  heard  bidding  them  fear 
God,  and  telling  them  that  he  had  taken  to  dwell  with  the 
gods,  because  he  was  pious.  The  same  honor  was  accorded 
to  his  wife  and  daughter  and  to  the  steersman.”  This  refers 
to  their  being  set  m  the  sky  as  constellations :  Xisuthrus  as 
the  water-bearer,  the  virgin,  a'^d  steersman  still  occupy  their 
places  there.  “  He  bade  thes^i,”  continues  Berosus,  “  return 
to  Babylon,  and,  as  Fate  decreed,  take  his  writings  out  of  Sr- 
paris,  and  from  them  instruct  men.  The  place  where  they 
found  themselves  was  Armenia.  Some  fragments  of  the  shi;* 
remain  on  the  mountains  of  the  Kordyaeans  in  Armenia,  an 
some  take  away  particles  and  use  them  as  amulets.”  1 

Eusebius  has  preserved  a  fragment  of  another  babyloni? 
writer,  Abydenos,  which  gives  the  same  story  precisely." 

Another  Chaldee  tradition  preserved  by  Cassian  is  that 

1  Georg.  Syncellus,  Chronographia,  p.  29,  B.,  ed.  Bonn  or  Cory’s  An 
{bent  Fragments,  p.  26  et  seq. 

-*  Pnrp.  Evang.  ix.  12  ;  see  also  S.  Cyril  contra  Julian,  i. 


no 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


befoie  the  Flood.  Ham  concealed  in  the  ground  treaties  of 
witchcraft  and  alchemy,  and  that,  when  the  water  abated,  he 
recovered  them.1  According  to  Berosus  also,  Xisuthrus  had 
three  sons, — Zerovanos,  Titan,  and  Japetosthes.  Zerovanos  is 
the  same  as  Zoroaster. 

From  Phrygia  also  come  to  us  traces  of  a  Diluvian  tradi¬ 
tion.  A  number  of  coins  of  Apamea,  a  city  of  Phrygia,  be¬ 
tween  the  rivers  Maeander  and  Marsyas,  of  the  period  of 
Septi mius  Severus  and  the  following  emperors,  possibly  bear 
reference  to  this  event.2  One,  a  coin  of  Philip,  bears  on  the 
reverse  something  like  a  box,  containing  a  man  and  woman  ;  on 
the  panel  of  the  box,  under  the  man,  is  written  “  Noe,”  the  dove 
is  bringing  the  olive  branch,  and  the:  raven  is  seated  on  the 
edge  of  the  box  above  the  head  of  the  female  figure.  The  same 
two  persons  are  also  represented  on  dry  land,  with  the  right 
hand  uplifted  in  the  attitude  of  prayer.  Another  coin  with 
the  same  subject,  on  the  reverse  has,  inscribed  on  the  ark, 
NHTSXN. 

To  elucidate  these  coins,  reference  is  made  to  a  passage  in 
the  Sibylline  Oracles  to  this  effect :  “  In  Phyrgia  lies  steep,  to 
be  seen  from  afar,  a  mountain,  named  Ararat.  .  .  .  Therefrom 
streams  the  river  Marsyas  ;  but  on  its  crest  rested  the  ark 
(wifiaoro')  when  the  rain  abated.”  3  As  the  ancient  name  of 
Apamea  seems  to  have  been  Kibotos,  it  is  not  unlikely  that 
the  Sibylline  writer  mixed  together  in  those  lines  the  Mosaic 
and  the  Phrygian  traditions. 

It  must,  however,  be  admitted  that  it  is  quite  as  probable 
that  the  box  represents  a  temple,  and  the  two  figures  tutelary 
deities,  and  that  the  “  Noe  ”  is  a  contraction  for  “  Neocoros,” 
the  most  important  title  assumed  by  Greek  cities,  and  often 
recorded  on  their  coins. 

The  ancient  Persian  account  in  the  Bundehesch  is  this  : 
“Taschter  (the  spirit  ruling  the  waters)  found  water  for  thirty 
days  and  thirty  nights  upon  the  earth.  Every  water-drop  was  as 
big  as  a  bowl.  The  earth  was  covered  with  water  the.  height 
of  a  man.  All  idolaters  <^n  earth  died  through  the  rain  ,  it 
penetrated  all  openings.  Afterwards  a  wind  from  heaven 
divided  the  water  and  carried  it  away  in  clouds,  as  souls  bear 

1  Bochart,  Geogr.  Sacra,  p.  231. 

1  Ekhel,  Doctrina  Numm.  Vet.  iii.  p.  132  et  seq. ;  see  also  Bryant’i 
New  System  of  Ancient  Mythology,  Lond.  1775,  i.  note  3. 

’  Orac.  Sibvll,  i.  v.  260,  265-7.  Ed.  Fiedlieb. 


THE  DELUGE. 


Ill 


bodies ;  then  Ormuzd  collected  all  the  water  together  and 
placed  it  as  a  boundary  *o  the  earth,  and  thus  was  the  great 
ocean  formed.”  1 

The  ancient  Indian  tradition  is,  “  that  in  the  reign  of  the 
sun-born  monarch  Satyavrata,  the  whole  earth  was  drowned, 
and  the  whole  human  race  destroyed  by  a  hood,  except  the 
pious  prince  himself,  the  seven  Rishis  and  their  several  wives.” 
This  general  pralaya ,  or  destruction,  is  the  subject  of  the 
first  Purana,  or  sacred  poem  ;  and  the  story  is  concisely  told 
in  the  eighth  book  of  the  Bhngavata,  from  which  the  following 
is  an  abridged  extract : — “The  demon  Hayagriva  having  pur¬ 
loined  the  Vedas  from  Brahma  while  he  was  reposing,  the 
whole  race  of  man  became  corrupt,  except  the  seven  Rishis 
and  Satyavrata  This  prince  was  performing  his  ablutions  in 
the  river  Critamala,  when  Vishnu  appeared  to  him  in  the  shape 
of  a  small  fish,  and  after  several  augmentations  of  bulk  in 
different  waters,  was  placed  by  Satyavrata  in  the  ocean,  when 
he  thus  addressed  his  amazed  votary  : — ‘  In  seven  days  all 
creatures  who  have  offended  me  shall  be  destroyed  by  a  deluge  ; 
but  thou  shalt  be  secured  in  a  capacious  vessel  miraculously 
formed.  Take,  therefore,  all  kinds  of  medicinal  herbs  and 
esculent  grain  for  food,  and  together  with  the  seven  holy  men, 
your  respective  wives,  and  pairs  of  all  animals,  enter  the  ark 
without  fear ;  then  shalt  thou  know  God  face  to  face,  and  all 
thy  questions  shall  be  answered.’  Saying  this,  he  disappeared ; 
and,  after  seven  days,  the  ocean  began  to  overflow  the  coasts, 
and  the  earth  to  be  flooded  by  constant  showers,  when  Satya¬ 
vrata,  meditating  on  the  Deity,  saw  a  large  vessel  moving  on 
the  waters :  he  entered  it,  having  in  all  respects  conformed  to 
the  instructions  of  Vishnu,  who,  in  the  form  of  a  large  fish, 
suffered  the  vessel  to  be  tied  with  a  great  sea-serpent,  as  with 
a  cable,  to  his  measureless  horn.  When  the  deluge  had 
ceased,  Vishnu  slew  the  demon  and  recovered  the  Vedas,  and 
instructed  Satyavrata  in  divine  knowledge.”2 

The  Mahabharata  says  that  the  boat  containing  Manu  and 
his  seven  companions  rested  on  Mount  Naubhandanam,  the 
highest  peak  of  the  Himalayas;  and  the  name  Naubhandanam 
signifies  “  ships  stranding.”  * 

\  Bundehesch,  7. 

1  (On  the  Chronology  of  the  Hindus,  by  Sir  W.  Jones ;  Asiatir  k#- 
sevidves,  ii.  pp.  116-7.. 

if  Jiopp.  Die  Shndfljstfh  ;  Berlin,  1829,  p.  9. 


I  12 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


The  Greek  traditions  are  not  early,  and  were  probably  bor¬ 
rowed  from  Semitic  sources.  We  have  seen  the  story  told  by 
Lucian  in  his  book  “  De  Dea  Syra,”  but  in  his  “  Timon  ”  he 
fellows  the  more  authentic  Greek  legend,  and  makes  Deuca¬ 
lion  escape  in  a  little  skiff  (consequently  without  the  animals), 
and  land  on  Mount  Lycoris. 

We  have  also  the  same  catastrophe  somewhat  differently 
related  by  Ovid.  The  world  he  represents  “as  confederate  in 
crime,”  and  doomed  therefore  to  just  punishment.  Jupiter 
sends  down  rain  from  heaven,  and  rivers  and  seas  gushing 
forth  from  their  caves  gather  over  the  earth’s  surface,  and 
sweep  mankind  away.  Deucalion  and  his  wife  alone,  borne  in 
a  little  skiff,  are  stranded  on  the  top  of  Parnassus.  By  degrees, 
the  waters  subside  :  the  only  surviving  pair  inquire  of  the  gods 
how  they  may  again  people  the  desert  earth.  They  are  or¬ 
dered,  with  veiled  heads,  to  throw  behind  them  the  bones  of 
their  great  mother.  Half  doubtful  as  to  the  meaning  of  the 
oracle,  they  throw  behind  them  stones,  which  are  immediately 
changed  into  men  and  women,  and  the  earth  spontaneously 
produces  the  rest  of  the  animal  creation. 1 

Apollodorus  relates  the  matter  thus  : — “  When  Zeus  deter¬ 
mined  to  destroy  the  brazen  race,  Deucalion,  by  the  advice  of 
Prometheus,  made  a  great  ark,  A dpva~,  and  put  into  it  all  ne¬ 
cessary  things,  and  entered  it  with  Pyrrha.  Zeus  then,  pour¬ 
ing  down  heavy  rains  from  heaven,  overwhelmed  the  greater 
part  of  Greece,  so  that  all  men  perished  except  a  few  who  fled  to 
the  highest  mountains.  He  floated  nine  days  and  nights  in  the 
sea  of  waters,  and  at  last  stopped  on  Mount  Parnassus.  Then 
Zeus  sent  Hermes  to  ask  him  what  he  wished,  and  he  solicited 
that  mankind  might  be  made  again.  Zeus  bade  him  throw 
stones  over  his  head,  from  which  men  should  come,  and  said 
that  those  cast  by  Pyrrha  should  be  turned  into  women.” 

Stephanus  of  Byzantium  says  that  the  tradition  was  that 
after  the  surface  of  the  earth  became  dry,  Zeus  ordered  Pro¬ 
metheus  and  Athene  to  make  images  of  clay  in  the  form  of 
men ;  and  when  they  were  dry,  he  called  the  winds  and  made 
them  breathe  into  each,  and  rendered  them  vital :  and  thus  the 
earth  after  the  Flood  was  repeopled.'2  Diodorus  says,  “In  the 
Deluge,  which  happened  in  the  time  of  Deucalion,  almost  all 
flesh  died.” 8 

1  Ovid.  Metam.  i.  240  et  seq.  *  Steph.  Bryzant.,  *.  roce  Ihoyioy. 

*  Diod.  Sicul.  lib.  L 


THE  DELUGE. 


”3 


The  Chinese  begin  their  dynasties  with  Jao,  the  last  of  the 
old  race,  whose  words  are  thus  recorded  in  the  Schu-Kiug : — 
“  The  mighty  waters  of  the  flood  spread  themselves  out,  and 
overflowed,  and  drowned  every  thing.  The  mountains  disap¬ 
peared  in  the  deep,  and  the  hills  were  buried  beneath  them. 
The  foaming  billows  seemed  to  threaten  heaven.  All  people 
were  drowned.”  1  An  ancient  inscription,  which  the  Chinese 
attribute  to  Yu,  the  third  patriarch  after  the  Flood,  and  which 
at  least  dates  from  before  Christ,  refers  to  this  event : — “  The 
illustrious  Emperor  Jao  said,  sighing,  ‘Companions  and  coun¬ 
sellors  !  The  great  and  little  territories  up  to  the  mountain’s 
peak,  the  homes  of  birds,  and  wild  beasts,  were  overflowed  far 
and  wide.  Long  had  I  forgotten  my  home  ;  now  I  rest  upon 
the  mountain  top  of  Jo-lu.  .  .  .  The  trouble  is  over,  and  the 
misfortune  is  at  an  end ;  the  streams  of  the  south  flow,  clothes 
and  food  are  before  us.  The  world  is  at  rest,  and  the  flying 
rain  cannot  again  destroy  us.’  ” 2 

In  one  of  the  writings  of  the  disciples  of  Tao-tse,  the  tradi¬ 
tion  takes  a  fuller  form.  Kung-Kung,  a  bad  spirit,  enraged  at 
having  been  overcome  in  war,  gave  such  a  blow  against  one  of 
the  pillars  of  the  sky  with  his  head  that  he  broke  it ;  and  the 
vault  of  heaven  fell  in,  and  a  tremendous  flood  overwhelmed  the 
earth.  But  Niu-Noa  overcame  the  water  with  wood,  and  made 
a  boat  to  save  himself,  which  could  go  far;  and  he  polished 
a  stone  of  five  colors — the  rainbow — and  therewith  he  fastened 
the  heavens,  and  lifted  them  up  on  a  tortoise  shell.  Then  fee 
killed  the  black  dragon  Kong- Kong,  and  choked  the  holes  in 
heaven  with  the  ashes  of  a  pumpkin.3  In  the  story  of  Jao  there 
is  also  a  faint  trace  of  his  connection  with  the  rainbow,  for  he 
is  said  to  have  eyebrows  colored  and  shaped  like  rainbows.4 

The  Kamskadales  say,  “  that  in  the  remote  ages  when  theii 
great  ancestor  and  God,  Kutka,  lived  in  Kamschatka,  there 
was  a  mighty  deluge.  Many  men  were  drowned  therein,  but 
some  tried  to  save  themselves  in  boats,  but  the  waves  over 
whelmed  them.  Those  who  were  saved  were  rescued  on  great 
rafts  made  of  trees  bound  together,  to  which  they  retreated, 
taking  food  and  their  property  with  them.  And  that  they  might 
not  drift  out  to  sea,  they  anchored  themselves  with  great  stones, 

1  Mem.  concemant  les  Chinois,  i.  p.  157. 

*  Klaproth,  Inschrift,  des  Yu  ;  Halle,  1811,  p.  29. 

*  Mem.  concemant  les  Ch  nois,  ix.  p.  383. 

4  Mart.  Martinii,  Ilist.  Sin  p.  26. 


Ix4 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


which  they  tied  to  the  edges  and  let  down  into  the  water.  And 
when  the  flood  abated,  they  rested  on  the  top  of  a  high  moun¬ 
tain.”  1 

A  Lapp  tradition  is  that  God  once  submerged  the  world, 
saving  only  one  brother  and  sister  alive,  whom  He  placed  on 
Mount  Passeware.  When  the  water  disappeared,  the  children 
separated  to  wander  over  the  earth,  and  see  whether  they  alone 
remained  alive.  They  met  after  three  years,  and  then  separa¬ 
ted  again,  for  they  recognized  one  another  as  brother  and  sis¬ 
ter.  After  three  years  they  met,  but  turned  their  backs  on  one 
another  once  more  for  the  same  reason.  Again  they  met  after 
the  lapse  of  three  years,  and  again  they  parted  ;  but  when  they 
met  again,  after  three  years’  further  absence,  they  no  longer  rec¬ 
ognized  each  other,  and  so  they  took  one  another  in  mar¬ 
riage  ;  and  of  them  all  generations  of  men  are  come.2 

Among  the  Kelts,  the  Deluge  formed  a  prominent  feature, 
and  the  ark  was  connected  with  their  most  sacred  religious  rites. 

A  Welsh  legend  is  this  : — “  One  of  the  most  dreadful  of 
events  was  the  outbreak  of  Llyn  Llion,  the  sea  of  seas,  which 
overwhelmed  the  world  and  drowned  all  men  except  Dvvyan 
and  Dwyvach,  who  escaped  in  a  bare  boat  and  colonized  Brit¬ 
ain.  This  ship  was  one  of  the  three  masterpieces  of  Hu,  and 
was  built  by  the  heavenly  lord,  Reivion ;  and  it  received  into 
it  a  pair  of  every  kind  of  beasts  when  the  Llyn  Llion  burst 
forth.”  Reivion  is  the  same  as  Hu  Cadarn,  the  discoverer  of 
the  vine ;  and  it  is  said  of  him  that  “  he  built  the  ark  laden  with 
fruit,  and  it  was  stayed  up  in  the  water,  and  carried  forward  by 
serpents  and  of  the  rainbow  it  was  said,  that  the  Woman  of 
the  silver  wheel,  Arianrhod,  to  control  the  wizards  of  night  and 
evil  spirits  of  tempest,  and  out  of  love  to  the  Britons,  “  wove 
the  stream  of  the  rainbow, — a  stream  which  drives  the  storm 
from  the  earth,  and  makes  its  former  destruction  stay  far  from 
it,  throughout  the  world’s  circle.”-3 

The  Norse  legend  in  the  younger  Edda  is,  “  Bor’s  sons 
(Odin,  Vilj,  and  Ve)  slew  the  giant  Ymir  ;  and  when  he  fell, 
so  much  blood  (in  poetic  phraseology  Yiflir’s  blood  signified 
water)  ran  out  of  the  wounds,  that  the  whole  race  of  the  giants 

1  Steller,  Beschreibung  v.  Kamschatka ;  Frankf.  1744,  p.  273. 

*  Serres,  Kosmoganie  des  Moses,  ttbersetzt  von  F.  X.  Stech,  p.  149. 

*  Davies,  Mythology  of  the  British  Druids,  London,  1809  ;  and  Celtic 
Researches,  London,  1844 :  curious  works  on  the  Arkite  worship  and  art 
ditions  of  the  Kelts. 


THE  DELUGE. 


was  drowned  in  it,  except  one,  who  with  his  family  escaped  ; 
this  one  was  called  Bergelmr.  He  got  into  a  boat  along  with 
his  wife,  and  was  thus  saved.”  1 

The  Lithuanian  myth  was  this: — When  Pramzimas,  the 
most  high  God,  looked  out  of  his  heavenly  house  upon  the 
world  through  a  window,  he  saw  that  it  was  filled  with  violence. 
Then  he  sent  Wind  and  Water  to  devastate  the  earth,  and 
this  they  did  for  twenty  days  and  nights.  Pramzimas  looked 
on,  and  as  he  looked  on,  he  ate  nuts  at  his  window,  and  threw 
the  shells  down.  One  shell  fell  on  the  top  of  a  mountain,  and 
some  men,  women,  and  beasts  scrambled  into  it  and  were  saved 
alive,  while  all  the  rest  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  world  were 
drowned.  When  the  flood  drained  away,  the  pairs  in  the  nut¬ 
shell  left  it,  and  were  scattered  over  the  earth.  Only  one  aged 
couple  remained,  and  they  complained  ;  then  God  sent  them 
the  rainbow  to  console  them,  and  bade  them  jump  over  the 
bones  of  the  earth.  They  jumped  nine  times,  and  nine  pairs 
of  living  human  beings  started  to  life,  and  founded  the  nine 
races  of  Lithuanian  blood.2 

Among  the  negroes  of  Africa,  traditions  are  faint,  or  have 
been  little  sought  after  and  collected.  The  Jumala  negroes  say 
that  once  when  the  earth  was  full  of  cruelty  and  wickedness, 
the  good  Til  destroyed  it  with  fire,  and  that  One  man  alone  was 
saved  alive,  named  Musikdgen,  i.  e .,  the  mountain  chief,  be¬ 
cause  he  was  found  without  blame. 

In  America  the  crop  of  traditions  is  abundant. 

The  Kolosches,  living  in  Russian  America,  say  that  the 
first  dweller  on  the  earth  was  Kitkhughia-si,  and  that  he  re¬ 
solved  to  destroy  all  his  children  who  sinned  against  him. 
Thereupon  he  brought  a  flood  over  the  land,  and  all  perished 
save  a  few  who  escaped  in  boats  to  the  tops  of  mountains, 
where,  say  they,  the  remains  of  the  boats,  and  the  *opes  which 
fastened  them,  remained  to  be  seen.3 

Among  the  Dog-rib  Indians,  Sir  John  Franklin  found  the 
story  much  more  complete  ;  and  as  this  tribe  lives  near  the 
Polar  Sea,  far  from  any  mission  stations,  it  is  scarcely  possible 
that  the  story  can  have  been  derived  from  Christian  teachers. 

*  The  prose  Edda ;  Mallet,  Northern  Antiq.,  ed.  Bohn,  p.  404. 

*  Grimm,  Deutsche  Mythol. ;  Gottingen,  1854,  p.  545. 

*  The  same  story  precisely,  is  told  hy  the  closely  allied  race  of  the 
Chippewas  ;  Atherne  Jones,  Traditions  of  the  North  American  Indian*, 
London,  r830,-ii.  p.  9  et  se<^. 


Il6  OLD  TESTA  MEN  T  CHARACTERS. 

They  say  that  Tschapiwih,  their  great  ancestor,  lived  on  a  track 
between  two  seas.  He  built  a  weir,  and  caught  fish  in  such 
abundance  that  they  choked  the  water- course,  and  the  water 
overflowed  the  earth.  Tschapiwih  with  his  family  entered  his 
canoe,  and  took  with  him  all  kinds  of  beasts  and  birds.  The 
lend  was  covered  for  many  days  ;  at  last  Tschapiwih  could  bear 
it  no  longer,  so  he  sent  out  the  beaver  to  look  for  the  earth. 
But  the  beaver  was  drowned.  Then  he  sent  out  the  muskrat, 
which  had  some  difficulty  in  returning,  but  it  had  mud  on  its 
paws.  Tschapiwih  was  glad  to  see  the  earth,  and  moulded  it 
between  his  fingers,  till  it  became  an  island  on  the  surface  of 
the  water,  on  which  he  could  land.1 

The  Pacullies,  on  the  west  coast  of  New  Georgia,  say  that 
at  the  Deluge  one  man  and  one  woman  were  saved  by  escaping 
into  a  cave ;  and  they  add  that  when  the  earth  was  drowned, 
a  water  rat  dived  for  it  and  brought  it  to  the  surface  again.2 

A  Caddoque  tradition  is,  that  Sakechah  was  a  great  hunter. 
One  night  he  saw  in  vision  the  Master  of  Life,  who  spoke  to 
the  dreamer  in  these  words  : — 

“The  world  is  getting  very  wicked,  Sakechah.” 

“T  know  it,”  answered  the  hunter. 

“  I  hear  no  longer  the  voices  of  men  supplicating  me  for 
favors  ;  they  no  longer  thank  me  for  what  1  send  them.  I 
must  sweep,  wash,  and  purify  the  earth ;  I  must  destroy  all 
living  creatures  from  off  the  face  cf  it.” 

Then  Sakechah  said,  “  What  have  I  done,  Master  of  Life, 
that  I  should  be  involved  in  this  general  destruction  ?  ” 

The  Master  answered,  “  No,  Sakechah,  thou  hast  been  a 
good  servant ;  I  will  except  thee  from  the  general  doom.  Go 
now,  cut  thee  a  hemlock,  knock  off  the  cones,  and  bring  them, 
together  with  the  trunk  and  leaves,  to  the  bottom  of  the  hill 
Wecheganawan.  Burn  them  in  a  fire  made  of  the  dry  branches 
of  the  oak,  kindled  with  the  straw  of  wild  rice.  When  the 
heap  is  reduced  to  ashes,  take  the  ashes  and  strew  them  in  a 
circle  round  the  hill.  Nothing  need  be  gathered  within  the 
circle,  for  the  living  creatures  will  of  themselves  retreat  to  it 
for  safety ;  but  when  this  is  dene,  take  the  trunk  of  the  hemlock, 
and  strike  it  into  the  earth  at  the  spot  where  the  large  tuft  of 
grass  is  growing  on  the  barren  hill.  There  lies  the  great 
fountain  of  water  ;  and  when  the  staff  is  struck  into  the  earth 

1  LtUke,  Voyage  autour  du  Monde,  i.  p.  189. 

*  Braunschweig,  Die  alten  Amerik.  Denkmaler ;  Berlin,  1840,  p.  l$. 


THE  DELUGE 


117 

the  fountain  shall  burst  forth,  and  the  earth  be  swept  and 
washed  and  purified  by  the  great  deluge  that  shall  overwhelm 
it.  Sakechah  and  his  family  shall  alone,  of  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  earth,  be  saved ;  and  the  creatures  he  assembles  around 
him  on  the  hill  Wecheganawan  be  alone  those  exempted  from 
the  all-sweeping  destruction.” 

The  hunter  obeyed.  He  took  the  staff  and  stuck  it  deep 
into  the  earth  at  the  place  indicated,  and  the  great  fountain 
was  broken  up,  and  the  waters  burst  forth  in  a  mighty  volume. 
Slowly  the  element  began  to  creep  over  the  earth,  while  the 
hunter  and  his  family  looked  on.  Now  the  low  grounds  ap¬ 
peared  but  as  they  appear  in  the  season  of  showers  ;  here  a 
little  water,  and  there  a  little  water ;  soon  they  became  one 
vast  sheet.  Nwv  a  little  hill  sank  from  view,  then  the  tops  of 
trees  disappeared  ;  again  a  tall  hill  hid  ks  head.  At  length 
the  waves  rose  so  high  that  Sakechah  could  see  nothing  more  \ 
he  stood  as  it  were  in  a  well.  The  waters  were  piled  up  on 
every  side  of  him,  restrained  from  harming  him,  or  his,  or  the 
beasts  that  had  clustered  around  him,  by  the  magic  belt  of 
hemlock  ashes. 

“  Sakechah  !  ”  said  the  Master  of  Life,  “when  the  moon  is 
exactly  over  thy  head,  she  will  draw  the  waters  to  the  hill. 
She  is  angry  with  me  because  I  scourged  a  comet.  I  cannot 
prevent  her  revenge  unless  I  destroy  her,  and  that  I  may  not 
do,  as  she  is  my  wife.  Therefore  bid  every  living  creature  that 
is  on  the  hill  take  off  the  nail  from  the  little  finger  of  his  right 
hand,  if  a  man  ;  if  a  bird,  or  beast,  of  the  right  foot  or  claw. 
When  each  has  done  this,  bid  him  blow  in  the  hollow  of  the  nail 
with  the  right  eye  shut,  saying  these  words,  ‘  Nail  become  a  ca¬ 
noe,  and  save  me  from  the  wrath  of  the  moon.’  The  nail  will 
become  a  large  canoe,  and  in  this  canoe  will  its  owner  be  safe.” 

The  Great  Spirit  was  obeyed,  and  shortly  every  creature 
was  floating  in  a  boat  on  the  surface  of  the  water.  And,  lest 
they  should  be  dispersed,  Sakechah  bound  them  together  by 
thongs  of  buffalo-hide. 

They  continued  floating  for  a  long  time,  till  at  last  Sakechak 
said,  “  This  will  not  do — we  must  have  land.  Go,”  said  he  to 
a  raven  that  sat  in  his  canoe  near  him,  “  fetch  me  a  little  earth 
from  the  bottom  of  the  abyss.  I  will  send  a  female,  because 
women  are  quicker  and  more  searching  than  men.” 

The  raven,  proud  of  the  praise  bestowed  on  her  sex,  left 
her  tail  feathers  at  home,  and  dived  into  the  abyss.  She  wai 


Il8  OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 

gone  a  long  time,  but,  notwithstanding  her  being  a  woman,  she 
returned  baffled  of  her  object.  Whereupon  Sakechah  said  to 
the  otter,  “  My  little  man,  I  wdl  send  you  to  the  bottom,  and 
see  if  your  industry  and  perseverance  will  enable  you  to 
accomplish  what  has  been  left  undone  by  the  wit  and  cunning 
of  the  raven.”  So  the  otter  departed  upon  his  dangerous 
expedition.  He  accomplished  his  object.  When  he  again 
appeared  on  the  earth,  he  held  in  his  paw  a  lump  of  black 
mud.  This  he  gave  into  the  hands  of  Sakechah  ;  and  the 
Great  Master  bade  him  divide  the  lump  into  five  portions  ;  that 
which  came  out  of  the  middle  of  the  lump  he  was  commanded 
to  mould  into  a  cake  and  to  cast  into  the  water:  he  did  so, 
and  it  became  dry  land,  on  which  he  could  disembark  ;  and  the 
earth  thus  formed  was  repeopled  from  his  time.  No  matter 
whether  the  men  of  the  earth  be  red  or  white,  all  are  descended 
from  Sakechah.1 

The  Iroquois  tell  a  very  similar  story,  differing  from  the 
above  in  merely  a  few  trivial  particulars.  According  to  the 
tradition  of  the  Knistineaux  on  the  Upper  Missouri,  all  men 
perished  in  the  Deluge  except  one  woman,  who  caught  the  leg 
of  a  bird  which  carried  her  to  the  top  of  a  rock,  where  she 
was  confined  of  twins,  of  whom  the  earth  was  peopled.2 

The  Appalachian  tribe  in  Florida  is  a  relic  of  a  more  an¬ 
cient  nation  than  the  North  American  Indian  tribes.  They 
relate  that  the  lake  Theomi  burst  its  bounds,  and  overflowed 
the  earth,  and  stood  above  the  top  of  the  highest  mountains, 
saving  only  the  peak  Oldamy,  on  which  stood  a  temple  to  the 
sun.  Those  men  who  had  succeeded  in  reaching  this  temple 
were  saved,  but  all  the  rest  perished.3 

According  to  the  Cherokees,  a  dog  foresaw  the  destruction 
tha^  was  coming  on  the  earth.  It  went  every  day  to  the  bank 
of  a  river  and  howled  ;  and  when  its  master  rebuked  it.  it  re¬ 
vealed  to  him  what  was  about  to  take  place.  The  man  there¬ 
fore  built  a  boat  and  entered  it  with  his  family,  and  he  alone 
of  all  mankind  was  saved.4 

If  we  turn  to  Central  America,  we  find  that  there  also 
traditions  of  the  Flood  abounded. 

1  Atheme  Jones,  Traditions  of  the  North  American  Indians,  ii.  21-33. 

2  Catlin,  Letters  and  Notes  on  the  Manners,  etc  of  the  N.  American 
Indians;  London,  1841. 

a  Mayer,  Mytholog.  Taschenbuch  ;  Weimar,  1S11,  p.  245. 

4  Schoolcraft,  Notes  on  the  Iroquois  ;  New  York,  1847,  p.  358 


THE  DELUGE 


The  ancient  inhabitants  of  Mexico  related  the  event  as 
follows  : — 

There  was  a  great  deluge  which  destroyed  all  men  and 
beasts,  save  Coxcox  and  his  wife  Chichequetzal,  who  escaped 
in  a  Cyprus  trunk  and  landed  on  Mount  Colhuacan,  where 
they  became  parents  of  many  children,  who,  however,  were 
all  dumb.  Then  appeared  a  dove,  which  seated  itself  on  a 
high  tree,  and  taught  them  language.  But  as  none  of  them 
understood  the  speech  of  the  other,  they  separated  and  dis¬ 
persed  over  the  world.  Fifteen  heads  of  families,  however, 
had  the  good  fortune  to  speak  the  same  language.  These 
lived  together  in  the  same  place,  but  at  last  they  moved,  and 
after  104  years  of  wandering  they  settled  in  Aztlan.  Thence 
they  journeyed  to  Chiapultepeque,  and  then  returned  to  the 
Mount  Colhuacan  and  settled  in  Mexico.1 

There  was  a  story  of  similar  description  connected  with  the 
ancient  city  of  Cholula  in  the  modern  province  of  Puebla. 
M  Before  the  great  flood  in  the  year  4,008  after  the  creation  of 
the  world,  the  land  Anaknac  (Mexico)  was  peopled  with  giants. 
All  those  who  did  not  perish,  with  the  exception  of  seven,  es¬ 
caped  into  holes,  and  were  transformed  into  fish.  When  the 
deluge  was  over,  one  of  these  giants,  Xelhuaz  by  name,  the 
builder,  went  to  Cholula,  and  built  a  pyramid  on  Mount  Tlalok, 
to  commemorate  his  having  been  saved  thereon  along  with  his 
six  brothers.”  3 

The  inhabitants  of  Mechoacan  related  that,  on  account  of 
the  iniquity  of  men,  a  flood  was  sent  to  sweep  them  all  away ; 
but  a  priest,  named  Tezbi,  along  with  his  wife  and  children, 
were  saved  in  a  box  of  wood  into  which  they  had  entered  along 
with  all  kinds  of  seeds  and  animals.  After  some  time  Tezbi, 
wearying  of  his  confinement,  sent  forth  the  vulture,  which  how 
ever  did  not  return  to  him ;  then  he  sent  forth  other  birds,  but 
they  did  not  come  back  ;  finally,  he  sent  out  the  Colibri,  which 
returned  with  a  branch  in  its  beak.8  And  of  this  event  they 
had  paintings  in  their  temples  which  they  showed  to  the  white 
men  who  arrived  amongst  them. 

1  Muller,  Geschichte  des  Amerikanischen  Urreligionem,  Basle,  1855, 


p.  515  ;  Ltlken,  Die  Traditionera  des  Menschengeschlechts,  p.  223. 
s  Humboldt,  Anh.  des  Cordilleren,  i.  p.  42. 

*  Antonio  de  Herrera,  Hist,  general  de  los  Hecoa,  etc. ;  Madrid,  1601, 


Ulc.  io. 


120 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


The  Indians  in  Cuba  told  a  similar  story,  so  did  those  at 
St.  Domingo  and  the  Anti'les.1 

Nor  is  South  America  without  a  rich  crop  of  similar  le¬ 
gends,  Humboldt  says,  “  This  belief  (in  a  deluge)  is  not  found 
merely  among  the  Tamanaks,  but  is  a  portion  of  a  whole  sys¬ 
tem  of  historical  traditions  of  which  the  scattered  accounts  are 
to  be  gathered  from  the  Maipures  of  the  Great  Cataract,  the 
Indians  of  Rio-Crevato,  which  pours  into  the  Cauca,  and  al¬ 
most  from  all  the  races  in  the  Upper  Orinoko.”  3 
N  This  is  the  tradition  of  the  Tamanaks.  “At  the  time  of 
our  ancestors  the  whole  earth  was  overflowed.  Then  two  per¬ 
sons  alone  were  saved,  a  man  and  a  woman,  who  remained  on 
Mount  Tamanaku,  which  is  not  far  from  the  Cucivero  river, 
where  our  ancestors  formerly  dwelt.  They  lamented  sore  over 
the  loss  of  their  friends  and  relations,  and  as  they  wandered 
sadly  about  the  mountain  they  heard  a  voice  which  told  them 
to  cast  the  kernels  of  the  nuts  of  the  Palma  Mauritia  back¬ 
wards  over  their  shoulders.  They  did  so,  and  out  of  the  nuts 
cast  by  the  woman  rose  females,  and  out  of  those  cast  by  the 
man  sprang  males.”  3 

The  Peruvians  related  that  theif  first  king  and  founder  of 
their  nation,  Manco  Capak,  along  with  his  wife  Mama  Ocllo, 
after  the  great  deluge  left  their  land,  and  came  from  the  holy 
island  in  the  lake  Titicaca,  on  which  the  sun  cast  its  first  beam 
when  the  flood  drained  away.4 

A  Brazilian  legend  is  that  the  Evil  Spirit  Arbomoku,  and 
the  spirits  of  the  air,  made  a  compact  together  to  destroy  man¬ 
kind.  The  former  opened  all  the  fountains  of  the  earth,  the 
latter  poured  the  clouds  upon  the  ground  and  inundated  it,  so 
that  only  one  mountain-top  appeared  above  the  water,  and  on 
that  took  refuge  two  persons,  a  brother  and  a  sister,  from  whom 
all  the  new  generations  sprang.3 

1  Compare  Luken  and  Muller. 

*  Humboldt,  Reise  in  die  Aequinoctial  Gegenden,  iii.  pp.  406-7. 

*  Nachrichten  aus  dem  Lande  Guiana,  v.  Salvator  Gili  ;  Ilamb.  1785 
pp.  440-1,  quoted  by  Luken. 

*  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  Hist,  des  Yncas ;  Amst.,  1.  pp.  73  and  326. 

*  Ausland,  Jan.  1845,  No.  I. 


THE  DELUGE . 


Itl 


XVL 

THE  PLANTING  OF  THE  VINK 

i 

Bowed  under  his  toil,  dripping  with  perspiration,  stood  the 
patriarch  Noah,  laboring  to  break  the  hard  clods.  All  at  once 
Satan  appeared  and  said  to  him, — 

“  What  new  undertaking  have  you  in  hand  ?  What  new  fruit 
do  you  expect  to  extract  from  these  clods  ?  ” 

“  I  plant  the  grape,”  answered  the  patriarch. 

“The  grape  !  proud  plant,  most  precious  fruit !  joy  and  de¬ 
light  to  men  !  Your  labor  is  great ;  will  you  allow  me  to  as¬ 
sist  you  ?  Let  us  share  the  labor  of  producing  the  vine.” 

The  patriarch  in  a  fit  of  exhaustion  consented. 

Satan  hastened,  got  a  lamb,  slaughtered  it,  and  poured  its 
blood  over  the  clods  of  earth.  “  Thence  shall  it  come,”  said 
Satan,  “that  those  who  taste  of  the  juice  of  the  grape,  shall 
be  soft-spirited  and  gentle  as  this  lamb.” 

But  Noah  sighed  ;  Satan  continued  his  work ;  he  caught  a 
lion,  slew  that,  and  poured  the  blood  upon  the  soil  prepared 
for  the  plant.  “  Thence  shall  it  come,”  said  he,  “  that  those 
who  taste  the  juice  of  the  grape  shall  be  strong  and  courageous 
as  the  lion.” 

Noah  shuddered.  Satan  continued  his  work ;  he  seized  a 
pig  and  slaughtered  it,  and  drenched  the  soil  with  its  blood. 
“  Thence  shall  it  come,”  said  he,  “  that  those  who  drink  of  the 
juice  of  the  grape  in  excess,  shall  be  filthy,  degraded,  and 
bestial  as  the  swine.” 1 

The  Mussulman  tradition  is  somewhat  similar. 

“  When  Ham  had  planted  the  vine,  Satan  watered  it  with 
the  blood  of  a  peacock.  When  it  thrust  forth  leaves,  he 
sprinkled  it  with  the  blood  of  an  ape  ;  when  it  formed  grapes, 
he  drenched  it  with  the  blood  of  a  lion ;  when  the  grapes  were 
ripe,  he  watered  it  with  the  blood  of  a  swine. 

“  The  vine,  watered  by  the  blood  of  these  four  animals,  has 
assumed  these  characters.  The  first  glass  of  wine  makes  a 
man  animated,  his  vivacity  great,  his  color  is  heightened.  In 
this  condition  he  is  like  the  peacock.  When  the  fumes  of  the 
liquor  rise  into  his  head,  he  is  gay,  leaps  and  gambols  as  ao 

1  Jalkut,  Genesis,  fol.  16  a. 


193 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


ape.  Drunkenness  takes  possession  of  him,  he  is  like  a  furl 
ous  lion.  When  it  is  at  its  height,  he  is  like  the  swine  ;  he 
falls  and  grovels  on  the  ground,  stretches  himself  out,  and 
goes  to  sleep.”  1 

Mohammed,  to  justify  his  forbidding  his  disciples  to  drink 
wine,  cites  the  history  of  the  two  angels,  Arot  and  Harot. 

“  God,”  says  he,  “  charged  them  with  a  commission  on  the 
earth.  A  young  lady  invited  them  to  dinner,  and  they  found 
the  wine  so  good  that  they  got  drunk.  They  then  remarked 
that  their  hostess  was  beautiful,  and  they  were  filled  with  love 
which  they  declared  to  her.  This  lady,  who  was  prudent,  re¬ 
plied  that  she  would  only  listen  to  their  protestations  when  she 
knew  the  words  by  which  they  were  enabled  to  ascend  to 
heaven.  When  she  had  learned  these  words,  she  mounted  to 
the  throne  of  God,  who,  as  a  reward  for  her  virtue,  transformed 
her  into  a  shining  star  (the  Morning  Star),  and  condemned  the 
two  drunken  angels  to  await  the  day  of  judgment,  suspended 
by  their  heels  in  the  well  of  Babel,  near  Bagdad,  which  Mus¬ 
sulman  pilgrims  visit.” 

According  to  Tabari,2  Ham,  for  having  laughed  at  his  fa¬ 
ther’s  drunkenness,  was  cursed  by  Noah,  that  his  skin  should 
become  black,  as  well  as  all  the  fruits  which  were  to  grow  in 
the  land  he  should  inhabit,  and  thus  the  purple  grape  arose. 
It  was  the  white  grape  that  Ham  transplanted,  but  it  black¬ 
ened  in  his  hands. 

Abulfaraj  relates  that  after  the  Deluge,  Noah  divided  the 
habitable  world  between  his  sons.  He  gave  to  Ham  the 
country  of  the  Black,  to  Shem  that  of  the  Brown,  and  to  Ja- 
pheth  that  of  the  Red.3  Noah  also,  he  continues,  said  to  his 
son  Shem,  “  When  I  am  dead,  take  the  bier  of  our  father  Adam 
from  the  ark,  and,  together  with  your  son  Melchizedek,  who 
is  a  priest  of  the  Most  High,  go  with  the  body  of  Adam  whither 
an  angel  shall  guide  you.” 

This  they  did  ;  and  an  angel  directed  them  to  mount  Breital- 
makdes  (Jerusalem),  where  they  deposited  the  bier  on  a  cer¬ 
tain  hill,  and  instantly  it  sank  out  of  their  sight  into  the  ground. 
Then  Shem  returned  to  his  home,  but  not  so  Melchizedek, 
who  remained  to  guard  the  body  of  Adam  :  and  he  built  there 
a  city  called  Jerusalem,  and  he  was  called  Melek  Salim,  the 
of  Peace,  and  there  he  spent  the  rest  of  his  life  in  the 

1  Colin  de  Plancy,  p.  121.  *  Tabari,  i.  c.  xli. 

1  flist.  Dynastiarum.  ed.  Pocock  ;  Oxon.,  1663.  p.  9. 


THE  VINE. 


”3 

worship  of  God  ;  he  touched  not  women,  nor  shed  blood,  but 
offered  to  God  oblations  of  bread  and  wine. 

Eutychius,  the  Egyptian  patriarch  of  Alexandria,  in  his 
Annals,  which  are  rife  with  Oriental  traditions,  gives  a  fuller 
account  of  the  same  incident. 

When  Noah  was  near  his  death,  he  bade  Shem  take  the 
body  of  Adam,  and  go  with  Melchizedek,  son  of  Peleg,  whither 
the  angel  of  the  Lord  should  lead.  “  And,”  said  he,  “  thou 
shalt  enjoin  on  Melchizedek  to  fix  his  habitation  there,  to  take 
to  him  no  wife,  and  to  spend  his  life  in  acts  of  devotion,  for 
God  has  chosen  him  to  preserve  His  true  worship.  He  shall 
build  himself  no  house,  nor  shall  he  shed  blood  of  beast,  or 
bird,  or  any  animal ;  nor  shall  he  offer  there  any  oblation  save 
bread  and  wine  ;  and  let  the  skins  of  lions  be  his  only  vesture  ; 
he  shall  remain  alone  there ;  he  shall  not  clip  his  hair,  or  pare 
his  nails  ;  for  he  is  a  priest  of  the  Most  High.  The  angel  of 
God  shall  go  before  you,  till  ye  come  to  the  place  where  ye 
shall  bury  the  body  of  Adam,  and  know  that  that  place  is  the 
middle  of  the  world.”  Now  Noah  died  on  Wednesday,  at  the 
second  hour,  in  the  second  month  of  Ayar,  which  is  the  same 
as  Bashnes,  in  the  nine  hundred  and  fiftieth  year  of  his  age. 
And  this  year  Shem  was  aged  forty-five.  The  sons  of  Noah 
buried  him,  and  bewailed  him  forty  days.5 

The  wife  of  Noah  is  said  by  some  to  have  been  called 
Bath-Enos,  or  the  daughter  of  Enos ;  but  the  Rabbi  Gedaliah 
says  her  name  was  Noema ;  others  say  it  was  Tethiri,  or  Ti- 
thcea,  the  nurse  of  men,  as  Eve  was  the  mother  of  men.  The 
Gnostics  called  her  Noria.  She  is,  however,  generally  sup¬ 
posed  by  the  Rabbis  to  have  been  Naamah,  the  sister  of  Tu- 
bal-cain.8  But  Eutychius,  of  Alexandria,  says  she  was  called 
Haical,  and  was  the  daughter  of  Namus,  son  of  Enoch  ;  and 
that  the  wives  of  Shem,  Ham,  and  Japheth  were  the  three 
daughters  of  Methuselah.  Shem’s  wife  was  named  Salith  ; 
the  wife  of  Ham,  Nahlath;  and  the  wife  of  Japheth,  Arisivah.* 
The  nurse  of  Noah  was  an  important  personage,  and  must 
not  be  forgotten.  She  was  named  Sambethe,  and  was  the 
first  Sibyl.  Suidas,  the  grammarian,  says,  “The  Chaldee 
Sibyl,  named  Sambethi  by  the  Hebrews,  and  identified  with 

1  Hist.  Dynastiarum,  ed.  Pocock ;  Oxon.,  1663,  p.  10. 

*  Eutychius,  Patr.  Alex.,  Annal.,  t.  i.  p.  44. 

*  Bereschith  Rabba,  fol.  22,  col.  4 

4  Eutych.  Annal.,  ed.  Selden,  i.  p.  35. 


124 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


the  Persian  Sibyl,  was  of  the  race  of  Noah.  She  foretold 
those  things  which  were  to  befall  Alexander  of  Macedon.  Shfi 
also  predicted  the  coming  of  the  Lord  Christ,  and  many  othei 
things,  through  divine  inspiration.”  1 


XVII. 


THE  SONS  OF  NOAH, 


Ham,  the  accursed,  the  third  son  of  Noah,  was  the  inventoi 
or  the  preserver  of  magic.  As  we  have  already  seen,  he  bur¬ 
ied  the  books  of  magic  which  existed  in  the  world,  before  the 
Deluge  swept  over  the  globe  ;  and  when  it  abated  he  exhumed 
them.  Cerco  d’Ascoli,  in  the  fourth  chapter  of  his  “  Commen¬ 
tary  on  the  Sphere  of  Sacrabosco,”  declares  that  he  had  seen 
a  book  of  magic  which  had  been  composed  by  Ham,  “  which 
contained  the  elements  and  practice  of  necromancy.”  Cer¬ 
tain  it  is  that  apocryphal  books  of  alchemy  and  conjuration  of 
spirits  existed  in  the  Middle  Ages,  which  purported  to  have 
been  composed  by  Ham. 

Ham  was  turned  black,  according  to  the  Talmud,  because 
he  did  not  maintain  himself  in  perfect  continence  whilst  in  the 
ark;3  other  authorities  say  his  skin  became  sooty  in  conse¬ 
quence  of  his  scoffing  at  his  father’s  drunkenness  ;  and  Japheth, 
for  having  smiled,  says  the  Mussulman  lost  the  gift  of  prophe¬ 
cy  from  his  family.3 

Berosus  supposed  that  Ham  was  the  same  as  Zoroaster. 

Japheth,  according  to  Khondemir,  was  given  by  his  father 
all  the  land  to  the  east  and  north  of  Ararat ;  he  was  the  progen¬ 
itor  of  the  Turks,  the  Sclaves,  of  Gog  and  Magog,  says  Ta¬ 
bari.  Before  he  started  with  his  family  to  people  these  coun¬ 
tries,  Noah  gave  him  a  stone,  on  which  was  written  the  great 
name  of  God.  The  Turks  say  that,  by  means  of  this  stone, 
Noah  was  able  to  guide  the  course  of  t’he  ark  without  sail  or 
oars.  The  Turks  have  similar  stones,  which,  they  pretend, 
came  by  a  process  of  generation  from  the  parental  stone  given 
to  Japheth.4  He  is  said  by  the  Mussulmans  to  have  had  eleven 
male  children  :  Sin  or  Tchin,  the  father  of  the  Chinese  ;  Scklab, 
the  ancestor  of  the  Sclavonian  races  ;  Manschug  or  Magog,  the 


1  Suidas,  Lexic.  s.  v.  'Slfiv'Wo 

Tabari,  i.  p  115. 


THE  SONS  OF  NOAH. 


1*5 


parent  of  the  Scythians  and  Kalmuks  ;  Gomari,  the  father  of 
the  Franks;  Turk  and  Khalos,  the  ancestors  of  the  Turks; 
Khozaz,  from  whom  the  Khozarans  trace  their  pedigree  ;  Rus, 
father  of  the  Russians  ;  Souffan,  Ghoy,  and  Tarag,  from  whom 
the  Turcomans  derive. 

Uak,  son  of  Turk,  discovered  the  use  of  salt  by  having  let 
fall  a  piece  of  meat  he  was  eating  on  the  ground  covered  with 
saline  deposit. 

Of  Shem  the  Rabbis  have  somewhat  to  say.  “  I  have 
found  in  the  Midrash  that  the  Rabbi  Johanan,  son  of  Nuri, 
said:  ‘The  holy,  ever-blessed  God  took  Shem,  son  of  Noah, 
and  consecrated  him  priest  of  the  Most  High,  that  he  should 
minister  before  Him  :  and  He  let  his  Majesty  dwell  with  Him, 
and  He  gave  him  the  name  Melchizedek,  a  priest  of  the  Most 
High  God,  king  of  Salem.  His  brother  Japheth  learnt  the 
law  of  him  in  his  school,  till  Abraham  came,  who  learnt  it  in 
the  school  of  Shem.  For  this  Abraham  obtained,  praying  to 
God  that  his  Majesty  should  remain  and  dwell  in  the  house 
of  Shem,  wherefore  it  was  said  of  him,  Thou  art  a  priest  forever 
after  the  order  of  Melchizedek .’  ”  1 

Shem  learned  his  knowledge  from  the  Book  of  Wisdom 
which  Raphael,  the  holy  angel,  gave  to  Adam  ;  but  Shem's  in¬ 
structor  was  the  angel  JophieR 

The  Rabbi  Gerson  writes  in  his  book  called  “  Sepher  geli- 
loth  erez  Israel,”  that  having  travelled  through  the  lands  of  Og, 
king  of  Bashan,  he  saw  there  a  grave  which  measured  eighty 
ells,  and  it  was  indicated  to  him  as  the  sepulchre  of  Shem.' 
A  curious  tradition  that  Shem,  Ham,  and  Japheth  fell  asleep 
in  a  cave,  and  woke  up  at  the  Nativity  of  Christ,  and  that  they 
were  themselves  the  three  wise  men  who  came  to  adore  Him, 
shall  be  mentioned  more  fully  when  we  treat  of  the  legends 
connected  with  the  New  Testament  characters. 

Shem  is  said  to  have  received  the  priesthood  instead  of 
Noah,  because  Noah  was  bitten  by  the  lion  as  he  was  leaving 
the  ark,  and,  being  suffused  with  blood,  became  incapable  oi 
receiving  the  priesthood. 

Shem  is  believed  to  have  written  many  books,  and  apocry 
phal  writings  of  his  exist. 

1  Eisenmenger,  i.  pp.  318-9  *  Ibid.,  p.  376.  *  Ibid.,  p.  395. 


126 


OLD  TESTA A/ANT  CHARACTERS. 


XVIIL 

RELICS  OF  THE  ARK. 

We  have  already  seen  that  Berosus  relates  how  in  his  time 
portions  of  the  ark  were  removed,  and  used  as  amulets.  Jose¬ 
phus  says  that  remains  of  the  ark  were  to  be  seen  at  his  day 
upon  Ararat ;  and  Nicolas  of  Damascus  reports  the  same. 
S.  Epiphanius  writes  :  “  The  wood  of  the  ark  of  Noah  is  shown 
to  this  day  in  the  Kardaen  (Koord)  country.”  1  And  he  is 
followed  by  a  host  of  fathers.  El  Macin,  in  his  History  of  the 
Saracens,  relates  that  the  Emperor  Heraclius  visited  the  relics 
after  he  had  conquered  the  Persians,  in  the  city  of  Thenia, 
at  the  roots  of  Ararat.  Haithon,  the  Armenian,  declares  that 
upon  the  snows  of  Ararat  a  black  speck  is  visible  at  all  times  * 
this  is  Noah’s  ark.a  Benjamin  of  Tudela,  in  his  Itinerary, 
says  that  all  the  wood  was  carried  away  by  the  Caliph  Omar, 
in  a.  d.  640,  and  was  placed  by  him  in  a  temple  or  mosque 
he  erected  in  an  island  formed  by  the  Tigris.  One  of  the 
beams  is  shown  in  the  Lateran  at  Rome.  In  1670,  Johann 
Jansenius  Strauss  ascended  to  a  hermit’s  cell  on  the  side  of 
Ararat,  to  bind  up  the  coenobite’s  leg  which  was  broken.  The 
hermit’s  cell,  said  Strauss,  was  five  days’  journey  up  the  moun¬ 
tain,  athwart  three  clouds,  and  above  a  region  of  intolerable 
cold,  in  a  calm  warm  atmosphere.  From  the  account  of  the 
hermit,  Herr  Strauss  learnt  that  the  old  man  had  dwelt  there 
twenty-five  years,  and  that  he  had  felt  there  neither  rain  nor 
winds.  On  the  top  of  the  mountain,  fifteen  Italian  miles  fiom 
the  cell,  through  the  clear  air,  was  distinguishable  the  great 
vessel  grounded  in  the  snow.  The  hermit  had  reached  it,  and 
of  one  of  its  planks  had  cut  a  cross,  which  he  exhibited  to  the 
German  traveller. 

In  the  town  of  Chenna,  in  Arabia  Felix,  says  the  traveller 
Prevoux,  is  a  large  building,  said  to  have  been  erected  by 
Noah  ;  and  a  large  piece  of  wood  is  exhibited  through  an  iron 
giating,  which  is  said  to  have  formed  a  portion  of  his  ark. 
There  is  also  to  be  seen  at  Chenna  a  well,  said  to  have  been 
dug  by  the  patriarch  Jacob,  of  which  the  water  is  icy  cold. 

The  Armenians  say  that  a  certain  monk,  Jacob,  once  as 

1  Adv.  Haeres.,  lib.  i.  *  De  Tariaris,  c.  9. 


CERTAIN  DESCENDANTS  OF  HAM. 


127 


cended  Ararat,  and  carried  off  a  fragment  of  the  ark,  which 
he  made  afterwards  into  a  cross,  and  this  is  preserved  amongst 
the  sacred  relics  of  Etchmiadzin.  When  the  Persian  king, 
Abassus  the  great,  sent  to  inquire  about  the  ark,  the  monks 
replied  that  it  was  in  vain  for  him  to  attempt  to  reach  it,  on 
account  of  the  precipices  and  glaciers,  and  innumerable  diffi¬ 
culties  of  the  way.1 


XIX. 

CERTAIN  DESCENDANTS  OF  HAM. 

We  shall  follow  certain  Mussulman  traditions  for  what  fol¬ 
lows.  Ad,  son  of  Amalek,  therefore  grandson  of  Ham,  estab¬ 
lished  himself  in  Arabia,  where  he  became  chief  of  the  tribe 
of  the  Adites.  He  fell  into  idolatry.  He  had  two  sons  named 
Schedad  and  Scheded,  who  reigned  over  numerous  subjects 
— one  for  two  hundred  and  fifty,  the  other  for  three  hundred 
years.  They  built  a  superb  city,  where  houses  were  of  sump¬ 
tuous  magnificence ;  the  like  of  this  city  was  never  seen  be¬ 
fore,  nor  will  be  seen  again.  This  city  vanished  when  the 
tribe  of  the  Adites  was  exterminated  ;  as  we  shall  relate  when 
we  give  the  legends  attaching  to  Heber.  The  commentators 
of  the  Koran  tell  marvels  of  this  wondrous  city. 

Under  the  Khalifate  of  Moawiyah,  first  of  the  Ommiades, 
an  Arab  of  the  desert,  named  Kolabah,  going  in  quest  of  his 
camel  in  the  plain  of  Aden,  lighted  on  the  gate  of  a  beautiful 
city.  He  went  in,  but,  being  filled  with  fear,  he  did  not  re¬ 
main  there  more  time  than  sufficed  for  him  to  collect  some  of 
the  stones  of  the  street,  and  then  he  returned. 

His  neighbors,  to  whom  he  relates  his  adventure,  repeated 
it  to  the  Khalif,  who  ordered  Kolabah  to  be  brought  before 
him.  The  Arab  related  frankly  what  he  had  seen,  but  Moawi¬ 
yah  would  not  give  credence  to  the  marvellous  tale,  till  he  had 
consulted  his  learned  men,  and  especially  the  illustrious  Al- 
Akhbar,  who  assured  him  that  the  story  of  the  poor  Arab  was 
worthy  of  all  trust,  for  the  city  he  had  seen  was  none  other 
than  that  built  by  Schedad,  son  of  Ad,  in  the  land  of  the  Ad¬ 
ites  in  which  Aden  is  situated ;  and  that,  as  the  pride  of  this 
prince  knew  no  bounds,  God  had  sent  His  angel  to  destroy 

1  Reliquiae  Areas  Noas,  in  Fabricius,  i.  art.  33. 


128 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


all  the  inhabitants,  and  conceal  their  splendid  city  from  the 
eyes  of  men,  to  be  revealed  only  at  intervals,  that  the  memory 
of  God’s  judgment  might  not  fade  out  of  men’s  minds. 

Schedad  had  a  son  named  Dhohak,  of  whom  strange  tales 
are  told.  He  knew  magic,  and  gained  the  sovereignty  over 
the  entire  universe ;  and  he  kept  his  subjects  in  terror  by  ex¬ 
cessive  cruelty.  In  the  Caherman-Nameh  it  is  related  that 
the  Devil,  satisfied  with  his  proceedings,  offered  him  his  ser 
vices  gratuitously,  and  they  were  cheerfully  accepted.  The 
ferocity  of  the  tyrant  increased,  he  skinned  men  alive,  impaled 
and  crucified  them  on  the  slightest  charges. 

After  having  served  him  five  years,  the  Evil  One  thus  ad¬ 
dressed  him  :  “  Sire  !  for  many  years  I  have  been  thy  faithful 
attendant,  neither  have  I  received  of  thee  any  recompense. 
Now  I  beseech  of  thee  one  favor — that  I  may  kiss  thy  shoul¬ 
ders.” 

This  favor  was  readily  granted.  Dhohak  himself  plucked 
off  his  mantle  to  facilitate  the  kiss. 

But  no  sooner  had  the  Devil  applied  his  lips  to  the  two 
shoulders  of  the  tyrant  than  two  serpents,  which  could  not  be 
plucked  off,  fastened  there  and  began  to  gnaw  his  flesh. 

^Tabari  says  that  the  king  bore  on  his  shoulders  two  fright¬ 
ful  ulcers  or  cancers,  resembling  serpents’  heads,  sent  him  by 
God  as  a  punishment  for  his  crimes.  These  cancers  caused 
him  such  acute  agony,  that  he  shrieked  night  and  day.  No 
one  was  able  to  provide  a  remedy  or  to  abate  the  torment. 

One  night  when  he  was  asleep,  some  one  appeared  to  him 
m  a  dream,  and  said,  “  If  you  desire  your  ulcers  to  give  less 
pain,  apply  to  them  human  brains.” 

Next  day,  Dhohak  awoke  and  ordered  two  men  to  be 
brought  before  him ;  he  slew  them,  cut  open  their  skulls,  ex¬ 
tracted  the  brains  and  applied  them  to  his  cancers.  The  re¬ 
lief  was  instantaneous,  and  Dhohak  felt,  for  the  first  time  for 
many  days,  some  hours  of  repose. 

After  this,  every  day  two  men  were  killed  to  form  poulti¬ 
ces  for  his  ulcers.  During  the  two  hundred  latter  years  of  the 
life  of  Dhohak,  the  prisons  were  emptied  to  satisfy  his  require¬ 
ment  for  fresh  brains ;  and  when  no  more  criminals  could  be 
procured,  it  was  made  a  tribute  for  his  kingdom  to  render  to 
him  two  men,  each  day,  to  be  immolated  to  soothe  his  pain. 

Now  there  was  at  Ispahan  a  blacksmith,  named  Kaveh, 
who  had  two  beautiful  sons,  whom  he  loved  more  dearly  than 


CERTAIN  DESCENDANTS  OF  HAM. 


129 

his  own  life.  One  day  they  were  seized,  carried  before  the 
king,  and  his  shoulders  were  poulticed  with  their  brains. 

Kaveh  was  at  work  at  his  anvil  when  the  news  of  the  slay¬ 
ing  of  his  sons  reached  him.  He  deserted  his  anvil  ;  and  ut¬ 
tering  a  piercing  cry,  he  rushed  into  the  streets,  with  his  leath¬ 
ern  apron  before  him,  bitterly  lamenting  his  loss,  and  calling 
for  vengeance  on  the  monarch.  The  people  crowded  about 
him,  they  plucked  off  his  leather  apron,  and  converted  it  into 
a  standard. 

The  crowd  gathered  as  it  advanced.  From  every  street 
men  flowed  to  join  the  army,  and  shortly  the  blacksmith  found 
himself  at  the  head  of  a  hundred  thousand  men. 

They  marched  to  Demavend,  where  was  the  palace  of  the 
tyrant.  And  Kaveh,  before  attacking  it,  thus  addressed  his 
soldiers,  “  I  am  not  one  to  lead  you  against  a  king ;  you  need 
a  king  to  make  war  against  a  king.” 

“Well,”  said  his  followers,  “we  elect  you  to  be  our  king.’ 

“  I  am  but  a  simple  blacksmith,  and  am  not  fit  to  rule,”  an¬ 
swered  Kaveh,  “  but  there  is  a  royal  prince  named  Afridoun, 
the  son  of  Djernschid,  who  is  fled  from  the  cruelty  of  Dhohak  : 
choose  him.” 

They  agreed.  The  prince  was  found  and  invested  with  the 
sovereignty ;  then  a  battle  was  fought,  and  Dhohak’s  army  was 
routed,  and  the  tyrant  was  slain. 

When  Afridoun  mounted  the  throne,  he  named  Kaveh  gov¬ 
ernor  of  Ispahan.  And  when  Kaveh  was  dead,  the  king  asked 
his  children  to  give  him  their  father’s  leathern  apron.  Then, 
having  obtained  it,  he  placed  it  among  his  treasures,  and  when¬ 
ever  he  went  to  battle  he  attached  the  smith’s  apron  to  a  tall 
staff,  and  marched  under  that  banner  against  his  enemies. 

In  after  years,  this  leathern  apron  was  studded  with  pre¬ 
cious  stones,  till  Omar,  dtspising  it,  ordered  the  old  piece  of 
leather  to  be  burnt  ;  but  Yezdeguerd  had  already  robbed  it 
of  its  gems.1 

Afridoun  exercised  thv>*  sovereignty  during  two  hundred 
years.  He  was  the  first  to  study  astronomy,  and  he  founded 
the  science  of  medicine,  lie  was  the  first  king  to  ride  on  an 
elephant.  He  had  three  sons,  Tur,  Salm,  and  Irad.  He  loved 
the  third  son,  Irad,  more  than  the  two  elder,  and  he  gave  him 
the  sovereignty  over  Irad,  Mosul,  Koufa,  Bagdad. 


6* 


1  Tabari,  j  j.  xlii.  xliii. 


130 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


After  the  death  of  Afridoun,  Tur  and  Salm  marched  against 
Irad,  defeated  him  and  killed  him,  saying  :  “  Our  father  has  di¬ 
vided  his  inheritance  unjustly.  He  has  given  to  Irad  the  best 
portion,  the  centre  of  the  world ;  as  for  us,  we  are  cast  out  to 
its  extremities.” 

On  the  death  of  Tur  and  Salm,  the  crown  left  this  family, 
and  passed  to  a  king  named  Cush,  who  was  of  the  sons  of  Ham, 
the  son  of  Noah.  Cush  reigned  forty  years.  After  him  Ca¬ 
naan  ascended  the  throne.  Cush  and  Canaan  worshipped  idols. 
It  is  said  that  Nimrod  was  the  son  Canaan.  When  Canaan 
died,  Nimrod  succeeded  him.  Nimrod  had  a  vizir  named 
Azar  (Terah),  son  of  Nahor,  son  of  Sarough  (Serug),  who  was 
sixth  in  generation  from  Noah.  This  Azar  was  the  father  of 
Abraham,  the  friend  of  God. 

From  the  time  of  the  Deluge  to  the  time  of  Abraham  was 
three  thousand  years.  During  that  period,  there  wras  no 
prophet  save  Hud  (Eber),  who  was  sent  to  the  Adites,  and 
Saleh,  who  was  sent  to  the  Thamudites. 

We  shall  relate  the  history  of  Hud  and  of  Saleh,  and  then 
return  to  that  of  Nimrod.1 


XX. 

SERUG. 

*  And  Eber  lived  four  and  thirty  years,  and  begat  Peleg. 

“  And  Peleg  lived  thirty  years ,  and  begat  Ren.  And  Reu  Us  ed 
two  and  thirty  years,  and  begat  Serug.  And  Serug  lived  thirty 
years,  and  begat  Nahor.”  2 

Serug  is  said  to  have  discovered  the  art  of  coining  gold  and 
silver  money.  In  his  days  men  erected  many  idols,  into  which 
demons  entered  and  wrought  great  signs  by  them.  Samiri 
was  king  of  the  Chaldees,  and  he  discovered  weights  and  meas¬ 
ures  and  how  to  weave  silk,  and  also  how  to  dye  fabrics.  He 
is  related  to  have  had  three  eyes  and  two  horns. 

At  the  same  time  Apiphanus  was  king  of  Egypt  He  built 
a  ship,  and  in  it  made  practical  descents  upon  the  neighboring 
people  living  on  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  He  was 
succeeded  by  Pharaoh,  son  of  Saner,  and  the  kings  after  him 
assumed  his  name  as  their  title.* 

1  T atari,  i.  c.  xlui. 

fc  Abulfaraj,  llist.  Dynastiarum,  p.  ia. 


*  On  k\  1 6,  1 3  20,  aa. 


EBER. 


131 

Nahor  was  the  son  of  Serug.  In  the  twenty -fifth  year  of  his 
life,  Job  the  Just,  underwent  his  trial,  according  to  the  opinion 
of  Arudha  the  Canaanite.  At  that  time  Armun,  king  of  Ca¬ 
naan,  built  the  two  cities  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  and  called 
them  after  the  names  of  Ifis  two  sons;  but  Zoar  he  named  after 
his  mother.  At  the  same  time,  Murk  or  Murph,  king  of  Pal¬ 
estine,  built  Damascus.1 


XXI. 

THE  PROPHET  EBER. 

“  Unto  Shem,  the  father  of  all  the  children  of  Eber ,  the  broth- 
er  of  Japheth  the  elder ,  even  to  him  were  children  bom. 

“  The  children  of  Shem  ; — Elam,  and  Asshur ,  and  Arphaxad 
and  Lud  and  Aram. 

“  And  the  children  of  Aram  ; —  Uz ,  and  dial,  and  G ether,  and 

Mash. 

“  And  Arphaxad  begat  Salah  ;  and  Salah  begat  Eber." 2 

According  to  some  Mussulman  writers,  Oudh  (Lud),  the  son 
of  Shem,  had  a  son  named  Ad  ;  but,  according  to  others,  Ad 
was  the  son  of  Aram,  son  of  Shem. 

The  tribes  of  Ad  and  Thamud  lived  near  one  another  in 
the  desert  of  Hedjaz,  in  the  south  of  Arabia.  The  land  of  the 
people  of  Ad  Was  nearer  Mecca  than  the  valley  of  Hidjr,  and 
the  valley  of  Hidjr  is  situated  at  the  extremity  of  the  desert  on 
the  road  to  Syria. 

Never  in  all  the  world  were  there  such  great  and  mighty 
men  as  the  Adites.  Each  of  them  was  twelve  cubits  high,  and 
they  were  so  strong  that  if  any  of  them  stamped  on  the  ground 
he  sank  up  to  his  knees. 

The  Adites  raised  great  monuments  in  the  land  which  they 
inhabited.  Wherever  these  Cyclopean  edifices  exist,  they  are 
called  by  the  Arabs  the  constructions  of  the  Adites. 

God  ordered  the  prophet  Hud  (Eber)  to  go  to  the  Adites 
and  preach  to  them  the  One  true  God,  and  turn  them  from 
idolatry.  But  the  Adites  would  not  hearken  to  his  words,  and 
when  he  offered  them  the  promises  of  God,  they  said,  “  What 
better  dwellings  can  He  give  us  than  those  which  we  have 


1  Abulfaraj,  Ilist  Dynastiarum,  p.  13. 


*  On  x.  21-24. 


i32 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


made  ?  ”  And  when  he  spoke  to  them  of  God’s  threatening^, 
they  mocked  and  said,  “Who  can  resist  us  who  are  so  strong ?  ” 

For  fifty  years  did  the  prophet  Hud  speak  to  the  Adites,  and 
their  reply  to  his  exhortations  is  preserved  in  the  Koran,  “  O 
Hud,  you  produce  no  evidence  of  what  you  advance  ;  we  will 
not  abandon  our  gods  because  of  your  preaching.  We  mistrust 
your  mission.  We  believe  that  one  of  our  gods  bears  a  hatred 
against  you.” 

Hud  replied,  “  I  take  God  to  witness,  and  you  also  be  wit¬ 
nesses,  that  I  am  innocent  of  your  polytheism.”  1 

The  words  of  the  Adites,  “  We  believe  that  one  of  our  gods 
bears  a  hatred  against  thee,”  signified  that  they  believed  one  of 
their  gods  had  driven  him  mad. 

During  the  fifty  years  that  Hud’s  mission  lasted,  the  Adites 
believed  neither  in  God  nor  in  the  prophet,  with  the  exception 
of  a  very  few,  who  believed  in  secret. 

At  the  end  of  that  time  God  withheld  the  rain  from  heaven, 
and  afflicted  the  Adites  with  drought.  All  the  cattle  of  Ad  died, 
and  the  Adites  fainted  for  lack  of  water.  For  three  years  no 
rain  fell. 

Hud  said  to  the  Adites,  “  Believe  in  God,  and  He  will  give 
you  rain.” 

They  replied,  “Thou  art  mad.”  But  they  choose  three 
men  to  send  to  Mecca  with  victims ;  for  the  infidels  believe  in 
the  sanctity  of  Mecca,  though  they  believe  not  in  the  One  true 
God. 

But  Eber  said,  “Your  sacrifices  will  be  unavailing,  unless 
you  first  believe.” 

The  three  deputies  started  for  Mecca  with  many  camels, 
oxen,  and  sheep,  as  sacrifices.  And  when  they  reached  Mecca 
they  made  friends  with  the  inhabitants  of  that  city,  and  were 
received  with  hospitality.  They  passed  their  days  and  nights 
in  eating  and  drinking  wine,  and  in  their  drunkenness  they  for¬ 
got  their  people,  and  the  mission  on  which  they  had  been  sent. 
The  inhabitants  of  Mecca  ordered  musicians  to  sing  the  afflic¬ 
tions  of  the  Adites,  to  recall  to  the  envoys  the  purpose  of  their 
visit.  Then  Lokman  and  Morthed,  two  of  the  deputies,  de¬ 
clared  to  Qa'il,  the  third,  that  they  believed  in  Allah  ;  and 
they  added,  “  If  our  people  had  believed  the  words  of  the 
prophet  Hud,  they  would  not  have  suffered  from  drought,” 


1  Koran,  Sura  xi.  verse  57. 


EBER . 


133 

and  Lokman  and  Morthed  were  not  drunk  when  they  said 
these  words. 

Qail  replied,  “You  do  not  partake  in  the  affliction  of  our 
nation.  I  will  go  myself  and  will  offer  the  victims.” 

He  went  and  led  the  beasts  to  the  top  of  a  mountain,  to 
sacrifice  them,  and  turning  his  face  to  heaven,  he  said,  “  O  God 
of  heaven,  hearken  unto  my  prayer,  and  send  rain  on  my  poor 
afflicted  people.” 

Instantly  there  appeared  three  clouds  is  the  blue  sky :  one 
was  red,  one  was  black,  the  third  was  white ;  and  a  voice  is¬ 
sued  from  the  clouds,  saying,  “  Choose  which  shall  descend 
upon  thy  people.” 

Then  Qail  said  within  himself,  “The  white  cloud,  if  it  hung 
all  day  over  my  nation,  would  not  burst  in  rain ;  the  red  cloud, 
if  it  hung  over  them  night  and  day,  would  not  drop  a  shower ; 
but  the  black  cloud  is  heavy  with  water.”  So  he  chose  the 
black  cloud. 

And  a  voice  cried,  “It  is  gone  to  fall  upon  the  people.” 

Qail  returned  full  of  joy,  thinking  he  had  obtained  rain 
but  that  cloud  was  big  with  the  judgments  of  God.  Qail  told 
what  he  had  done  to  his  companions,  Lokman  and  Morthed, 
but  they  laughed  at  him. 

Now  the  cloud,  when  it  arrived  over  the  land  of  Ad,  was 
accompanied  by  a  wind.  And  the  Adites  looked  up  rejoicing, 
and  cried,  “  The  rain,  the  rain  is  coming  !  ” 

Then  the  cloud  gaped,  and  a  dry  whirlwind  rolled  out  from 
it,  and  swept  up  all  the  cattle  that  were  in  the  land,  and  raised 
them  in  the  air,  spun  them  about,  and  dashed  them  lifeless  on 
the  ground. 

But  the  Adites  said,  “  Fear  not ;  first  comes  wind,  then 
comes  rain.  And  they  rushed  out  of  their  houses  into  the 
fields.  Hud  thought  they  were  coming  forth  to  ask  his  assist¬ 
ance  ;  but  they  sought  him  not.  Then  the  whirlwind  caught 
them  up  and  cast  them  down  again.  Now  each  of  these  men 
was  like  a  palm-tree  in  statue,  and  they  lay  shattered  and  life¬ 
less  on  the  sand. 

Hud  was  saved,  along  with  those  who  had  believed  his  word. 

Now  when  the  envoys  at  Mecca  heard  what  had  befallen 
their  people,  they  went  all  three  to  the  summit  of  the  mountain, 
and  Lokman  and  Morthed  said  to  Qail,  “  Believe.”  But  he 
answered,  raising  his  face  and  hands  to  heaven  :  “  O  God  of 
heaven,  if  thou  hast  destroyed  my  people,  slay  me  also.” 


*34 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


Then  the  whirlwind  came,  and  rushed  on  him,  and  caught 
him  up  and  cast  him  down,  and  he  was  dead. 

But  Lokman  and  Morthed  offered  their  sacrifice,  and  a  voice 
from  heaven  said,  “  What  is  your  petition  ?  ” 

Lokman  answered  :  “  O  Lord,  ‘grant  me  a  long  life,  that  I 
may  outlive  seven  vultures.”  Now  a  vulture  is  the  longest- 
lived  of  all  birds ;  it  lives  five  hundred  years. 

And  the  voice  replied,  “  However  long  thy  life  may  be, 
death  will  close  it.” 

Lokman  said,  “I  know;  that  is  true.” 

Then  his  prayer  was  granted.  And  Lokman  took  a  young 
vulture  and  fed  it  for  five  hundred  years,  and  it  died ;  then  he 
took  a  second,  and  at  the  expiration  of  five  hundred  years  it 
died  also  ;  and  So  on  till  he  had  reached  the  age  of  three 
thousand  live  hundred  years,  and  then  he  died  also. 

Morthed  made  his  request,  and  it  was,  “  O  Lord,  give  me 
wheat  bread,”  for  hitherto  in  Ad  he  had  eaten  only  barley 
bread.  So  Allah  gave  Morthed  so  much  wheat,  that  he  was 
able  to  make  bread  thereof  all  the  rest  of  his  life. 

Hud  lived  fifty  years  with  the  faithful  who  had  received  his 
doctrine,  and  his  life  in  all  was  one  hundred  and  fifty  years. 
The  piophet  Saleh  appeared  five  hundred  years  after  Hud  ;  he 
was  sent  to  the  Thamudites.1 

But  there  is  another  version  of  the  story  given  by  Weil. 

Hud  promised  Schaddad,  king  of  the  Adites,  a  glorious  city 
in  the  heavens,  if  he  would  turn  to  the  true  God.  But  the  king 
said,  “  I  need  no  other  city  than  that  I  have  built.  My  palace 
rests  on  a  thousand  pillars  of  rubies  and  emeralds ;  the  streets 
and  walls  are  of  gold,  and  pearl,  and  carbuncle,  and  topaz  ;  and 
each  pillar  in  the  house  is  a  hundred  ells  long.” 

Then,  at  Hud’s  word,  God  let  the  city  and  palace  of 
Schaddad  fade  away  like  a  dream  of  the  night,  and  storm  and 
rain  descended,  and  night  fell,  and  the  king  was  without  home 
in  the  desert.2 

Of  Lokman  we  must  relate  something  more.  He  was  a 
great  prophet;  some  say  he  was  nephew  of  Job,  whose  sister 
was  his  mother  ;  others  relate  that  he  was  the  son  of  Beor,  the 
son  of  Nahor,  the  son  of  Terah. 

One  day,  whilst  he  was  reposing  in  the  heat  of  the  day,  the 
angels  entered  his  room  and  saluted  him,  but  did  not  show 

1  Tabari,  i.  c.  xliv. ;  Abulfeda,  Hist.  Ante  Islamica,  pp.  19-21. 

4  Weil,  pp.  47,  48. 


EBER. 


135 


themselves,  l/Aman.  heard  their  voices,  but  saw  net  thv,. 
persons.  rrhen  the  angels  said  to  him, — 

“  We  are  messengers  of  God,  thy  Creator  and  ours  ;  He  has 
sent  us  unto  thee  to  announce  to  thee  that  thou  shalt  be  a  great 
monarch.” 

Lokman  replied,  “If  God  desires  what  you  say,  His  will 
can  accomplish  all  things,  and  doubtless  He  will  give  me  what 
is  necessary  for  executing  my  duty  in  that  position  in  which 
He  will  place  me.  But  if  He  would  suffer  me  to  choose  a 
state  of  life,  I  should  prefer  that  in  which  I  now  am,” — now 
Lokman  was  a  slave, — “  and  above  all  would  I  ask  Him  to  en¬ 
able  me  never  to  offend  Him  ;  without  which  all  earthly  grand¬ 
eur  would  be  to  me  a  burden.” 

This  reply  of  Lokman  was  so  pleasing  to  Allah,  that  He 
gave  him  the  gift  of  wisdom  to  such  a  degree  of  excellence, 
that  he  became  capable  of  instructing  all  men  ;  and  this  he  did 
by  means  of  a  great  multitude  of  maxims,  sentences,  and  par- 
bles  to  the  number  of  ten  thousand,  each  of  which  is  more  val¬ 
uable  than  the  whole  world.1 

When  Lokman  did  not  know  any  thing  with  which  others 
were  acquainted,  he  held  his  tongue,  and  did  not  ask  questions 
and  thus  divulge  his  ignorance. 

As  he  lived  to  a  great  age,  he  was  alive  in  the  days  King 
David.  Now  David  made  a  coat  of  mail,  and  showed  it  to 
Lokman.  The  sage  had  seen  nothing  like  it  before,  and  did 
not  know  what  purpose  it  was  to  serve,  but  he  looked  knowing 
and  nodded  his  head.  Presently  David  put  the  armor  upon 
him,  and  marched,  and  said,  “  It  is  serviceable  in  war.”  Then 
Lokman  understood  its  object ;  so  his  mouth  became  unsealed 
and  he  talked  about  it. 

Lokman  used  to  say,  “  Silence  is  wisdom,  but  few  practise 
it.” 

Thalebi  relates,  in  his  Commentary  on  the  Koran,  that 
I,okman  was  a  slave,  and  that  having  been  sent  along  with 
other  slaves  into  the  country  to  gather  fruit,  his  fellow-slaves 
ate  them,  and  charged  Lokman  with  having  done  so.  Jvokman, 
to  justify  himself,  said  to  his  master,  “  Let  every  one  of  us 
slaves  be  given  warm  water  to  drink,  and  you  will  soon  see 
who  has  been  the  thief.” 

1  Ilerbclot,  Biblioth.  Orientale,  a.  v.  Lokmiut. 

’  Tabari,  i.  p.  431. 


i36  OLD  testament  characters. 

The  expedient  succeeded ;  the  slaves  who  had  eaten  the 
fruit  vomited  it,  and  Lokman  threw  up  only  warm  water. 

The  same  story  precisely  is  told  of  ^Esop. 

Lokman  is  always  spoken  of  as  black,  with  thick  lips.  He 
is  regarded  by  the  Arabs  much  as  is  Bidpay  by  the  Indians,  and 
Hisop  by  the  Europeans,  as  the  Father  of  Fable. 


XXIL 

THE  PROPHET  SALEH. 

The  prophet  Saleh  was  the  son  of  Ad,  son  of  Aram,  son  of 
Shem,  and  is  not  to  be  confused  with  Saleh,  son  of  Arphaxad. 

The  Mussulmans  say  that  he  was  sent  to  convert  the  Tha- 
mudites. 

The  Thamudites  were  in  size  and  strength  like  their  breth¬ 
ren  the  Adites,  but  they  inhabited  the  rocks,  which  they  dug 
out  into  spacious  mansions.  They  had  in  the  midst  of  their 
land  an  unfailing  supply  of  sweet  and  limpid  water.  They  were 
idolaters.  Saleh  came  armed  with  the  command  of  Allah  to 
these  men,  and  he  preached  to  them  that  they  should  turn 
from  the  worship  of  stocks  and  stones  to  that  of  the  living 
God  who  made  them. 

Now  Saleh  had  been  born  among  the  Thamudites,  but  he 
l.ad  never  been  an  idolater.  When  he  was  young,  the  natives 
of  the  land  had  laughed  at  him,  and  said,  “  He  is  young  and 
inexperienced ;  when  he  is  old,  and  has  grown  wiser,  he  will 
adore  our  gods.” 

When  Saleh  grew  old,  he  forbade  the  Thamudites  to  wor* 
ihip  idols,  and  he  spoke  to  them  of  the  true  and  only  God. 

But  they  said,  “What  miracle  can  you  work,  to  prove  that 
your  mission  is  from  God  ?  ”  1 

Then  he  said,  “  Oh,  my  people,  a  she-camel  that  shall  come 
from  God  shall  be  to  you  for  a  sign.  Let  her  go  and  eat  on 
the  earth,  and  do  her  no  injury,  that  a  terrible  retribution  fall 
not  upon  you.” 8 

Now  Saleh  had  asked  them  what  miracle  they  desired,  and 
they  had  answered,  “  Bring  out  of  the  rock  a  camel  with  red 
hair,  and  a  colt  of  a  camel  also  with  red  hair;  let  them  eat 
grass,  and  we  will  believe.” 

1  Koran,  Sura  xxvi.  v.  153. 


*  Ibid,  xi.  f.  67. 


SALEH. 


*37 


Saleh  said  to  them,  “What  you  ask  is  easy,”  and  he  prayed. 

Then  the  rock  groaned  and  clave  asunder,  and  there  came 
out  a  she-camel  with  her  foal,  and  their  hair  was  red,  and  they 
began  to  eat  grass. 

Then  the  Thamudites  exclaimed,  “  He  is  a  magician  !  ”  and 
they  would  not  believe  in  him. 

The  camel  went  to  the  perpetual  fountain,  and  she  drank 
it  up,  so  that  from  that  day  forward  from  their  spring  they 
could  get  no  water,  and  they  suffered  from  thirst. 

The  Thamudites  went  to  Saleh  and  said,  “We  need  water  !  ” 

Saleh  replied,  “  The  fountain  shall  flow  one  day  for  you, 
and  one  day  for  the  camel.” 

So  it  was  agreed  that  the  camel  should  drink  alternate  days 
with  the  people  of  the  land,  and  that  alternate  days  each  should 
be  without  water  whilst  the  other  was  drinking. 

Then  Saleh  said,  for  he  saw  that  the  people  hated  the 
camel  and  her  foal,  “  Beware  that  you  slay  not  these  animals 
for  the  day  that  they  perish,  great  shall  be  your  punishment.’ 

The  she-camel  lived  thirty  years  among  the  Thamudites, 
but  God  revealed  to  Saleh  that  they  were  bent  on  slaying  the 
camel,  and  he  said,  “  The  slayer  will  be  a  child  with  red  hair 
and  blue  eyes.” 

Now  the  Thamudites  ordered  ten  midwives  to  attend  on  the 
women  in  their  confinement,  and  if  a  child  were  born  with  the 
signs  indicated  by  the  prophet,  it  was  to  be  destroyed  instantly. 

Nine  children  had  thus  been  killed,  and  the  parents  con¬ 
ceived  a  deadly  animosity  against  Saleh  the  prophet,  and  form¬ 
ed  a  design  to  slay  him. 

One  of  the  chiefs  among  the  Thamudites  had  a  son  born 
to  him  with  red  hair  and  blue  eyes,  and  the  nurses  would  have 
destroyed  it,  but  the  nine  men  spake  to  the  father  of  the  child 
and  they  banded  together,  and  saved  the  infant. 

Now  when  this  child  had  attained  the  age  of  eleven,  he  be¬ 
came  great  and  handsome  ;  and  each  of  the  parents  whose 
children  had  been  put  to  death,  when  he  saw  him,  said,  “  Such 
an  one  would  have  been  my  son,  had  not  he  been  slain  at  the 
instigation  of  Saleh.”  And  they  combined  to  put  the  prophet 
to  death.  They  said  among  themselves,  “We  will  kill  him 
outside  the  city,  and  returning,  say  we  were  elsewhere  when  he 
was  murdered.”  - 

Having  formed  this  project,  they  left  the  city  and  placed 
themselves  under  a  rock,  awaiting  his  exit  from  the  gates 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


l3* 

But  God  commanded  the  rock,  and  it  fell  and  crushed  them 
all. 

Next  day  their  corpses  were  recovered,  but  the  Thamudites 
were  very  wroth,  and  said,  “  Saleh  has  slain  our  children,  and 
now  he  slays  our  men;”  and  they  added,  “We  will  be  re¬ 
venged  on  his  camel.” 

But  no  one  could  be  found  to  undertake  the  execution  of 
this  deed,  save  the  red-haired  child.  He  went  to  the  fountain 
where  the  camel  was  drinking,  and  with  one  kick  he  knocked 
her  over,  and  with  another  kick  he  despatched  her. 

But  the  foal,  seeing  the  fate  of  her  mother,  ran  away,  and 
the  boy  with  the  red  hair  and  blue  eyes  ran  after  her. 

Saleh,  seeing  what  had  taken  place,  cried,  “  The  judgment 
of  God  is  about  to  fall.” 

The  people  were  frightened,  and  asked,  “  What  shall  we 
do?” 

“  The  judgment  of  God  will  not  fall  as  long  as  the  colt  re¬ 
mains  among  you.” 

Hearing  this,  the  whole  population  went  in  pursuit  of  the 
young  camel.  Now  it  had  fled  to  the  mountain  whence  it  had 
sprung,  and  the  red-haired  boy  was  close  on  its  heels.  And 
when  the  young  camel  heard  the  shouting  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  city,  and  saw  the  multitude  in  pursuit,  it  stood  before 
the  rock,  turned  round,  uttered  three  piercing  cries  and  van¬ 
ished. 

The  Thamudites  arrived  and  beat  the  rock,  but  they  could 
not  open  it.  Then  said  Saleh,  “The  judgment  of  God  will 
fall ;  prepare  to  receive  it.  The  first  day  your  faces  will  be¬ 
come  livid,  the  second  day  they  will  become  black,  and  the 
third  day  red.” 

Things  happened  as  Saleh  had  predicted.  And  when  the 
signs  befel  them  which  Saleh  had  foretold,  they  knew  that 
their  end  was  near.  The  first  day  they  became  ash  pale,  the 
second  day  coal  black,  and  the  third  day  red  as  fire,  and  then 
there  came  a  sound  from  heaven,  and  all  fell  dead  on  the  earth, 
save  Saleh  and  those  who  believed  in  him ;  these  heard  the 
sound,  but  did  not  perish. 

By  the  will  of  God,  when  the  people  were  destroyed,  one 
man  was  absent  at  Mecca  ;  the  name  of  this  man  was  Abou- 
Ghalib.  When  he  knew  what  had  befallen  his  nation,  he  took 
up  his  residence  in  Mecca  ;  but  all  the  rest  perished,  as  it  is 
written  in  the  Koran,  “  In  the  morning  they  were  found  dead 


SJ  LEFT. 


139 


in  their  houses,  stretched  upon  the  ground,  as  though  they  had 
never  dwelt  there.” 

From  Saleh  to  Abraham  there  was  no  prophet.  At  the 
time  of  that  patriarch  there  was  no  king  over  all  the  earth. 
The  sovereignty  had  passed  to  Canaan,  the  son  of  Cush,  the 
?on  of  Ham,  who  was  the  son  of  Noah. 1 

The  camel  of  the  prophet  Saleh  was  placed  by  Mohammed 
in  the  heavens,  together  with  the  ass  of  Balaam,  and  other  fa¬ 
vored  animals. 

Now  wonderful  as  is  this  story,  it  is  surpassed  by  that  re¬ 
lated  by  certain  Arabic  historians  of  the  mission  of  Saleh. 
This  we  proceed  to  give. 

Djundu  Ibn  Omar  was  king  of  the  Thamudites,  a  people 
numbering  seventy  thousand  fighting  men.  He  had  a  palace 
cut  out  of  the  face  of  a  rock,  and  his  high  priest,  Kanuch  Ibn 
Abid,  had  one  likewise.  The  most  magnificent  building  in  the 
city  was  a  temple  which  contained  the  idol  worshipped  by  the 
people.  This  idol  had  the  head  of  a  man,  the  neck  of  a  bull, 
the  body  of  a  lion,  and  the  feet  of  a  horse.  It  was  fashioned 
out  of  pure  gold,  and  was  studded  with  jewels. 

One  day,  as  Kanuch,  the  high  priest,  was  worshipping  in 
the  temple,  he  fell  asleep,  and  heard  a  voice  cry,  “  The  truth 
will  appear,  and  the  madness  will  pass  away.”  He  started  to 
his  feet  in  alarm,  and  saw  the  idol  prostrate  on  the  floor,  and 
its  crown  had  fallen  from  its  head. 

Kanuch  cried  out  for  assistance,  and  fled  to  the  king,  who 
sent  men  to  set  up  the  image,  and  replace  on  its  head  the 
crown  that  had  fallen  from  it. 

But  doubt  took  possession  of  the  heart  of  Kanuch ;  he  no 
longer  addressed  the  image  in  prayer,  and  his  enthusiasm  was 
at  an  end.  The  king  observed  this,  and  sent  two  vizirs  with 
orders  to  imprison  and  execute  him.  But  Allah  struck  the 
vizirs  with  blindness,  and  he  sent  two  angels  to  transport  Ka¬ 
nuch  to  a  well-shaded  grotto,  well  supplied  with  all  that  could 
content  the  heart  of  man. 

As  Kanuch  was  nowhere  to  be  found,  the  king  appointed 
his  kinsman  Davud  to  be  high  priest.  But  on  the  third  day 
he  came  to  the  king  to  announce  to  him  that  the  idol  was 
again  prostrate. 

The  monarch  set  it  up  once  more,  and  Eblis,  entering  the 

1  Tabari,  i.  c.  xlv. 


<40 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


image,  spoke  through  its  mouth,  exhorting  all  men  to  beware 
of  novel  doctrines  which  were  about  to  be  introduced. 

Next  feast-day  Davud  was  about  to  sacrifice  two  oxen  to 
the  idol,  when  one  of  them  opened  its  mouth,  and  thus  ad¬ 
dressed  him  : — 

“Will  you  sacrifice  creatures  endued  with  life  by  the  living 
God  to  a  mass  of  lifeless  metal  ?  O.  God,  do  thou  destroy  this 
sinful  nation  !  ”  And  the  oxen  broke  their  halters,  and  ran 
away. 

Horsemen  were  deputed  to  pursue  and  capture  them,  but 
they  escaped,  for  Allah  screened  them. 

But  God  in  his  mercy  resolved  to  give  the  Thamudites 
another  chance  of  repenting  of  their  idolatry. 

Raghwah,  Kanuch’s  wife,  had  shed  incessant  tears  since  the' 
disappearance  of  her  husband.  Allah  despatched  a  bird  out 
of  Paradise  to  guide  her  to  the  grotto  of  Kanuch. 

This  bird  was  a  raven ;  its  head  was  white  as  snow,  its 
back  was  green  as  emerald.  Its  feet  were  purple ;  its  beak 
of  heaven’s  blue.  Its  eyes  were  gems  ;  only  its  body  was  black, 
for  this  bird  did  not  fall  under  the  curse  of  Noah,  as  it  was  in 
Paradise. 

It  was  midnight  when  the  raven  entered  Raghwah’s  dark 
chamber,  where  she  lay  weeping  on  a  carpet ;  but  the  glory 
of  its  eyes  illumined  the  whole  room,  as  though  the  sun  had 
suddenly  flashed  into  it.  Raghwah  rose  from  her  place,  and 
gazed  in  wonder  on  the  lovely  bird,  which  opened  its  beak  and 
said,  “  Arise  and  follow  me  !  God  has  seen  thy  tears,  and  will 
reunite  thee  to  thy  husband.” 

Raghwah  followed  the  raven,  which  flew  before  her,  and 
with  the  light  of  its  eyes  turned  the  night  into  day.  The 
morning  star  had  not  risen,  when  they  stood  before  Kanuch’s 
grot.  Then  cried  the  raven,  “  Kanuch,  open  to  thy  wife  I  ” 
and  so  vanished. 

Nine  months  after  that  Raghwah  had  rejoined  her  husband, 
she  bore  him  a  son,  who  was  the  image  of  Seth,  and  had  on 
his  brow  the  prophetic  light;  and  Kanuch,  in  the  hope  of 
drawing  him  to  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God  and  to  a  pious 
life,  gave  him  the  name  of  Saleh  (The  Blessed). 

Not  long  after  Saleh’s  birth,  Kanuch  died ;  and  the  raven 
of  Paradise  returned  to  the  grotto  to  lead  back  Saleh  to  his 
own  people. 


SALEH ;  r4l 

Saleh  grew  in  beauty  and  strength,  to  the  admiration  of  his 
mother  and  all  who  saw  him. 

A  war  was  being  waged  between  the  descendants  of  Ham 
and  the  Thamudites,  and  the  latter  had  lost  many  battles  and 
a  large  portion  of  their  army,  when  Saleh  suddenly  appeared 
in  the  battle-field  at  the  head  of  a  few  friends,  and,  by  his  per¬ 
sonal  heroism,  turned  the  tide  of  victory,  and  routed  the 
enemy. 

This  success  drew  upon  him  the  gratitude  and  love  of  the 
people,  but  the  envy  of  the  king  was  kindled,  and  he  sought 
the  life  of  the  young  prophet.  But  as  often  as  assassins  were 
sent  by  the  king  to  take  his  life,  their  arms  shrivelled  up,  and 
were  only  restored  by  the  intercession  of  Saleh.  These  cir¬ 
cumstances  tended  to  increase  and  confirm  the  number  of 
his  adherents,  so  that  he  was  able  to  build  a  mosque,  and  oc¬ 
cupy  with  worshippers  of  the  true  God  one  whole  quarter  of 
the  city. 

But  one  day  the  king  surrounded  the  mosque  with  his 
troops,  and  threatened  Saleh  and  his  followers  with  death  if 
they  would  not  work,  a  miracle  to  prove  their  worship  to  be 
the  true  one. 

Saleh  prayed,  and  instantly  the  leaves  of  the  date-tree  that 
stood  before  the  mosque  were  transformed  into  serpents  and 
scorpions,  which  fell  over  the  king  and  his  soldiers ;  whilst 
two  doves,  which  dwelt  on  the  terrace  of  the  mosque,  sang 
aloud,  “  Believe  in  Saleh,  he  is  a  prophet  and  messenger  of 
God  1  ” 

But  Saleh  was  moved  with  compassion  when  he  saw  the 
anguish  of  those  who  had  been  bitten  by  the  scorpions  and 
vipers,  and  he  prayed  to  God,  and  the  noxious  reptiles  were 
transformed  back  again  into  date-leaves,  and  those  who  had 
been  stung  were  made  whole.  Nevertheless  the  king  hard¬ 
ened  his  heart,  and  continued  to  worship  false  gods. 

When  Saleh  saw  the  impenitence  of  the  Thamudites,  hn 
besought  God  to  destroy  them  ;  but  an  angel  appeared  to  him 
in  a  cave,  and  sent  him  to  sleep  for  twenty  years. 

When  he  awoke  he  betook  himself  towards  the  mosque  hn 
had  built,  never  doubting  that  he  had  slept  but  a  single  night. 
The  mosque  was  gone,  his  friends  and  adherents  were  dead  oi 
dispersed,  a  few  remained,  but  they  were  old,  and  he  hardly 
recognized  them.  Falling  into  despair,  the  angel  Gabriel 
came  to  him  and  said, — 


142 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


“  Thou  wert  hasty  in  desiring  the  destruction  of  this  people, 
therefore  God  hath  withdrawn  from  thy  life  twenty  years, 
which  He  has  taken  from  thee  in  sleep.  Now  He  sends  thee  . 
precious  relics  wherewith  to  establish  thy  mission,  to  wit, 
Adam’s  shirt,  Abel’s  sandals,  Seth’s  overcoat,  Enoch’s  seal 
ring,  Noah’s  sword,  and  Hud’s  staff.” 

Next  day,  as  the  kingDjundu  with  his  brother  Schihab,  and 
the  priests  and  the  princes  of  the  people  formed  a  procession 
to  an  idol  temple  near  the  town,  Saleh  ran  before  the  proces¬ 
sion  entered  the  temple,  and  stood  in  the  door. 

“  Who  art  thou  ?  ”  asked  the  king  in  astonishment :  for  he 
did  not  recognize  Saleh,  so  greatly  had  God  changed  him  in 
his  sleep  of  twenty  years. 

He  answered :  “  I  am  Saleh,  the  messenger  of  the  only 
God,  who  preached  to  you  twenty  years  ago,  and  showed  to 
you  many  signs  and  wonders,  but  you  would  not  believe.  And 
now  once  more  I  appear  unto  you  to  give  you  a  proof  of  my 
mission.  Ask  what  miracle  I  shall  perform  and  it  shall  be 
done.” 

Then  the  king  said,  “  Bring  me  here  out  of  the  rock  a 
camel  one  hundred  ells  long,  of  every  color  under  the  sun, 
whose  eyes  are  like  lightning,  and  whose  feet  are  swifter  than 
the  wind.” 

Saleh  consented.  Then  said  Davud,  “  Let  its  fore  feet  be 
golden  and  its  hinder  feet  silver,  its  head  of  emerald  and  its 
ears  of  ruby.  Let  it  bear  on  its  hump  a  tent  of  silver,  woven 
with  gold  threads  and  adorned  with  pearls,  resting  on  four 
pillars  of  diamonds  !  ” 

When  Saleh  agreed  co  this  also,  the  king  added,  “  And  let  it 
bring  with  it  a  foal  like  to  its  mother,  just  born,  and  running 
by  her  side  ;  then  will  I  believe  in  Allah,  and  in  thee  as  His 
prophet.” 

“  And  wilt  thou  believe  too  ?  ”  asked  Saleh  of  the  high  piiest. 

“  Yes,”  answered  Davud,  “if  she  give  milk  without  being 
milked,  cold  in  summer  and  warm  in  winter.” 

“  And  one  thing  more,”  threw  in  the  king’s  brother,  Schi¬ 
hab,  “  the  milk  must  heal  the  sick,  enrich  the  poor,  and  the 
camel  must  of  its  own  accord  go  into  every  house,  and  fill 
the  pails  with  milk.” 

“  Be  it  according  to  your  will,”  said  Saleh.  But  I  warn 
you, — no  one  must  injure  the  camel,  deprive  it  of  its  food  or 
drink,  attempt  to  ride  it,  or  use  it  for  any  other  kind  of  labor.” 


SALEH. 


M3 


When  th  ;y  consented,  Saleh  prayed  to  God,  and  the  earth 
opened  under  his  feet  and  a  well  of  fragrant  water  gushed  up, 
and  poured  over  the  rock,  and  the  rock  was  rent,  and  the 
camel  started  forth  in  every  particular  such  as  the  king  and 
his  high  priest  had  desired.  So  they  cried,  “  There  is  no  God 
but  God,  and  Saleh  is  his  prophet.” 

Then  the  angel  Gabriel  came  down  from  heaven,  having 
’n  his  hand  a  flaming  sword,  wherewith  he  touched  the  camel, 
ind  she  bore  instantly  a  foal  like  her  parent. 

Then  the  king  fell  on  Saleh’s  neck,  and  kissed  him  and  be¬ 
lieved.  But  his  brother  Schihab  and  Davud  attributed  all  th2t 
had  been  done  to  magic,  and  they  labored  to  convince  the  peo¬ 
ple  that  the  camel  was  the  work  of  necromancy. 

But  as  daily  the  camel  gave  her  milk,  and,  whenever  she 
drank,  said  her  grace  with  formality,  the  number  of  true  be¬ 
lievers  increased  daily,  and  the  high  priest  and  all  the  chiefs 
of  the  infidels  resolved  on  her  destruction.  Schihab,  the  king’s 
brother,  hoping  to  overturn  the  king  and  take  his  place,  by  ad¬ 
hering  to  the  established  religion  and  ignoring  all  novelties, 
was  resolute  in  his  resistance  to  the  true  religion.  Therefore 
he  promised  his  daughter  Rajan  in  marriage  to  whosoever 
should  kill  the  wondrous  camel. 

Now  there  was  a  young  man  of  humble  origin,  named 
Kaddar,  who  had  long  loved  the  maiden,  but  had  never  ven¬ 
tured  to  show  his  passion ;  he  armed  himself  with  a  great 
sword  and  attacked  the  camel  as  it  was  drinking,  in  the  rear, 
and  wounded  it  in  the  hock. 

Instantly  all  nature  uttered  a  piercing  cry.  Then  the  }OUth, 
filled  with  compunction,  ran  to  the  top  of  a  mountain,  and 
cried,  “  God’s  curse  on  you,  ye  sinful  people  !  ” 

Saleh  betook  himself  with  the  king,  who  would  not  be  sep¬ 
arated  from  him,  into  the  town,  and  demanded  the  punishment 
of  Kaddar  and  his  accomplices.  But  Schihab,  who®  in  the 
mean  time  had  seized  on  the  throne,  threatened  them  with 
death,  and  Saleh,  obliged  to  fly  to  save  his  life,  had  only  time 
to  speak  his  threat,  “  Three  days  are  given  you  for  repentance  ; 
after  that  ye  shall  be  slain.” 

Next  day  ever}7  man’s  face  was  yellow  as  the  leaves  in  au¬ 
tumn,  and  wherever  the  wounded  camel  limped  31  spring  of 
blood  bubbled  out  of  the  soil. 

On  the  second  day  the  faces  of  all  were  blood-red,  and  on 
the  third  they  were  coal-black. 


144 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


Towards  evening  the  camel  spread  a  pair  of  scarlet  wings 
and  flew  away,  and  then  mountains  of  Are  were  rained  from 
heaven  on  the  city,  by  the  hands  of  angels ;  and  the  keepers 
of  the  fire  beneath  the  earth  opened  vents,  and  blew  fire  from 
below  in  the  form  of  flaming  camels. 

When  the  sun  went  down,  all  that  remained  of  the  Thamud 
ites  was  a  heap  of  ashes. 

Saleh  alone,  and  the  king  Djundu,  were  saved.1 


XXIII. 

THE  TOWER  OF  BABEL. 

First  we  will  take  Jewish  traditions,  and  then  Mahomme- 
dan  legends.  The  Rabbis  relate  as  follows  : — 

After  the  times  of  the  great  Deluge,  men  feared  a  recurrence 
of  that  great  overthrow,  and  they  assembled  on  and  inhabited 
the  plain  of  Shinar.  There,  they  no  longer  obeyed  the  gentle 
guidance  of  Shem,  the  son  of  Noah  ;  but  they  cast  the  king¬ 
dom  of  God  far  from  them,  and  choose  as  their  sovereign,  Nim¬ 
rod,  son  of  Cush,  son  of  Ham.2  Nimrod  became  very  great  in 
power.  Having  been  born  when  his  father  was  old,  he  was 
dearly  beloved,  and  every  whim  had  been  gratified.  Cush  gave 
him  the  garment  which  God  made  for  Adam  when  he  was  ex¬ 
pelled  from  Paradise,  and  which  Adam  had  given  to  Enoch, 
and  Enoch  to  Methuselah,  and  Methuselah  had  left  to  Noah, 
and  which  Noah  had  taken  with  him  into  the  ark.  Ham  stole 
it  from  his  father  in  the  ark,  concealed  it,  and  gave  it  to  his 
|Son  Cush.  Nimrod,  vested  in  this  garment,  was  unconquera¬ 
ble  and  irresistible.3  All  beasts  and  birds  fell  down  before 
him,  and  his  enemies  were  overcome  almost  without  a  struggle. 

It  was  thus  that  he  triumphed  over  the  king  of  Babylon. 
His  kifigdom  rapidly  extended,  and  he  became  daily  more 
powerful,  till  at  last  he  was  sole  monarch  over  the  whole  world.4 

Nimrod  rejected  God  as  his  ruler;  he  trusted  in  his  own 
might,  therefore  it  is  said  of  him,  “  He  was  mighty  in  hunting, 
and  in  sin  before  the  Lord ;  for  he  was  a  hunter  of  the  sons  of 
men  in  their  languages.  And  he  said  to  them,  Leave  the  judg¬ 
ments  of  Shem,  and  adhere  to  the  judgments  of  Nimrod.’’ 5 

1  Weil,  pp.  48-61 ;  Abulfeda,  p.  21. 

•  Pirke  of  Rabbi  Eliezer,  c.  xi.  *  Ibid.,  c.  xxir.  4  Ibid.,  c.  xi. 

*  Targums,  ed.  Etheridge,  i.  p  187. 


THE  TOWER  OF  BABEL. 


*45 


Bat  Nimrod  was  uneasy  in  his  mind,  and  he  feared  lest 
some  otic  should  arise  who  would  be  empowered  by  God  to 
overthrow  him  ;  therefore  he  said  to  his  subjects,  “  Come,  let 
us  build  a  great  city,  and  let  us  settle  therein,  that  we  may  not 
be  scattered  over  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  be  destroyed  once 
more  by  a  flood.  And  in  the  midst  of  our  city  let  us  build  a 
high  tower,  so  lofty  as  to  overtop  any  flood,  and  so  strong  as 
to  resist  any  fire.  Yea,  let  us  do  further,  let  us  prop  up  the 
heaven  on  all  sides  from  the  top  of  the  tower,  that  it  may  not 
again  fall  and  inundate  us.  Then  let  us  climb  up  into  heaven, 
and  break  it  up  with  axes,  and  drain  its  water  away  where  it 
can  do  no  injury.  Thus  shall  we  avenge  the  death  of  our  an¬ 
cestors.  And  at  the  summit  of  our  tower  we  will  place  an  im¬ 
age  of  our  god  with  a  sword  in  his  hand,  and  he  shall  fight  for 
us.  Thus  shall  we  obtain  a  great  name,  and  reign  over  the 
universe.” 

Even  if  all  were  not  inspired  with  the  same  presumption, 
yet  all  saw  in  the  tower  a  means  of  refuge  from  a  future  deluge  ; 
and  therefore  they  readily  fell  in  with  the  proposal  of  the  king. 
Six  hundred  thousand  men  were  set  to  work  under  a  thousand 
captains,  and  raised  the  tower  to  the  height  of  seventy  miles 
(i.  <?.,  fifty-six  English  miles).  A  great  flight  of  stairs  on  the 
ea$t  side  was  used  by  those  carrying  up  material,  and  a  flight 
on  the  west  side  served  those  who  descended,  having  deposited 
their  burdens.  If  a  workman  fell  down  and  was  killed,  no  one 
heeded  ;  but  if  any  of  the  bricks  gave  way,  there  was  an  outcry. 
Some  shot  arrows  into  the  sky,  and  they  came  down  tinged  with 
blood,  then  they  shouted  and  cried,  “  See,  we  have  killed  every 
one  who  is  in  heaven.”  1  Curiously  enough  a  similar  story  is 
told  by  the  Chinese  of  one  of  their  earlier  monarchs,  who 
thought  himself  so  great  that  he  might  war  against  heaven.  He 
shot  an  arrow  into  the  sky,  and  a  drop  of  blood  fell.  “  So,” 
said  he,  “  I  have  killed  God  !  ” 

At  this  time  Abraham  was  forty-eight.  He  was  filled  with 
grief  and  shame  at  the  impiety  of  his  fellow-men,  and  he  prayed 
to  God,  “  O  Lord  I  confound  their  tongues ,  for  I  have  spied  un¬ 
righteousness  and  strife  in  the  city  I" 

Then  the  Lord  called  the  seventy  angels  who  surround  His 
throne,  that  they  should  confuse  the  language  of  the  builders, 
so  that  none  should  understand  the  other. 

1  Bechaji,  Comm,  in  i  Mos.  xi. ;  Pirke  of  R.  Eliezer,  c.  xi. ;  Talmud 
Sanhedrim,  toga ;  Targums,  i.  pp.  189-go,  etc. 

7 


146 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


The  angels  came  down,  and  cast  confusion  among  the  sub¬ 
jects  of  Nimrod,  and  seventy  distinct  languages  sprang  up, 
and  the  men  could  not  understand  each  other;  so  they  sepa¬ 
rated  from  one  another,  and  were  spread  over  the  surface  of 
the  earth.  The  tower  itself  was  destroyed  in  part.  It  was  in 
three  portions  :  the  upper  story  was  destroyed  by  fire  from 
heaven,  the  basement  was  overthrown  by  an  earthquake,  only 
the  middle  story  was  left  intact, — how,  we  are  not  informed.1 

We  will  now  take  the  Mussulman  tradition.  Nimrod,  who, 
according  to  the  Arabs,  was  the  son  of  Canaan,  and  brother 
of  Cush,  sons  of  Ham,  having  cast  Abraham,  who  refused  to 
acknowledge  him  as  supreme  monarch  of  the  world,  into  a 
burning,  fiery  furnace,  from  which  he  issued  unhurt,  said  to 
his  courtiers,  “  I  will  go  to  heaven  and  see  this  God  whom 
Abraham  preaches,  and  who  protects  him.” 

His  wise  men  having  represented  to  him  that  heaven  is 
very  high,  Nimrod  ordered  the  erection  of  a  tower,  by  which 
he  might  reach  it.  For  three  years  an  immense  multitude 
of  workmen  toiled  at  the  erection  of  this  tower.  Every  day 
Nimrod  ascended  it  and  looked  up,  but  the  sky  seemed  to 
him  as  distant  from  the  summit  of  his  tower  as  it  had  from 
the  level  ground. 

One  morning  he  found  his  tower  cast  down.  But  Nimrod 
was  not  to  be  defeated  so  easily.  He  ordered  a  firmer 
foundation  to  be  laid,  and  a  second  tower  was  constructed  ; 
but  however  high  it  was  built,  the  sky  remained  inaccessible. 
Then  Nimrod  resolved  on  reaching  heaven  in  another  fashion. 
He  had  a  large  box  made,  and  to  the  four  corners  he  at¬ 
tached  gigantic  birds  of  the  species  Roc.  They  bore  Nim¬ 
rod  high  into  the  air,  and  then  fluttered  here  and  fluttered 
there,  and  finally  upset  the  box,  and  tumbled  him  on  the  top 
of  a  mountain,  which  he  cracked  by  his  fall,  without  however 
materially  injuring  himself. 

But  Nimrod  was  not  penitent,  nor  ready  to  submit  to  the 
Most  High,  therefore  God  confounded  the  language  of  his 
subjects,  and  thus  rent  from  him  a  large  portion  of  his  king¬ 
dom.2 

God  sent  a  wind,  says  Abulfaraj,  which  overthrew  the 
Tower  of  Babel  and  buried  Nimrod  under  its  ruins.3 

1  Talmud,  Sanhedrim  ;  see  also  the  history  of  Nimrod  in  Yaschar,  pp 
1107-8.  2  Herbelot,  s.  v.  Nimrod. 

3  Ilist.  Dynast.,  p.  12. 


THE  TOWER  OF  BABEL . 


147 

O {  Babel  we  find  fewer  traditions  preserved  amongst  the 
ancient  nations,  than  we  did  of  the  Deluge. 

The  Zendavesta  makes  no  mention  of  such  an  event ;  and 
it  is  equally  unknown  to  the  Chinese  books,  though  curiously 
enough,  in  Chinese  hieroglyphics,  the  tower  is  the  symbol  of 
separation.1 

The  Chaldeans,  however,  says  Abydessus,  probably  quoting 
Berosus,  the  priest  of  Bel,  related,  “  That  the  first  inhabitants 
of  the  earth,  glorying  in  their  own  strength  and  size,  and  de¬ 
spising  the  gods,  undertook  to  raise  a  tower  whose  top  should 
reach  the  sky  in  the  place  where  Babylon  now  stands ;  but 
when  it  approached  the  heavens,  the  winds  assisted  the  gods, 
and  overthrew  the  work  of  the  contrivers ;  and  its  ruins  are 
said  to  be  still  in  Babylon ;  and  the  gods  introduced  a  diver¬ 
sity  of  tongues  among  men,  who  till  that  time  had  ail  spoken 
the  same  language ;  and  a  war  arose  between  Kronos  and  Ti¬ 
tan.  The  place  on  which  they  built  the  tower  is  now  called 
Babylon.” a 

Alexander  Polyhistor  relates  the  events  as  follows,  and 
quotes  the  Sibyl.  “The  Sibyl  says,  when  all  men  had  one 
speech,  they  built  a  great  tower  in  order  to  climb  into  heaven, 
but  the  gods  blowing  against  it  with  the  winds,  threw  it  down, 
and  confounded  the  language  of  the  builders ,  therefore  the 
city  is  called  Babylon.”  “  The  writings  of  this  Sibyl,  common¬ 
ly  called  the  Chaldean  Sibyl,  formed  part  of  the  sacred  scrip¬ 
tures  of  the  Babylonians.  Eupolemus,  quoting  apparently 
Syro-phcenician  traditions,  relates  the  matter  somewhat  differ¬ 
ently.  “  The  city  Babylon,”  says  he,  “  was  built  after  the  Del 
uge  by  those  who  were  saved.  But  they  were  giants,  and  they 
built  the  famous  tower  then.  But  when  this  was  overthrown 
by  the  will  of  the  gods,  the  giants  were  scattered  over  the  whole 
face  of  the  earth.”4  The  Armenian  tradition  recorded  by 
Moses  of  Chorene,  is  to  this  effect :  “  From, them  (i.  e .,  from  the 
first  dwellers  on  the  earth)  sprang  the  race  of  the  giants,  with 
strong  bodies  and  of  huge  size.  Full  of  pride  and  envy,  they 
formed  the  godless  resolve  to  build  a  high  tower.  But  whilst 
they  were  engaged  on  the  undertaking,  a  fearful  wind  over¬ 
threw  it,  which  the  wrath  of  God  had  sent  against  it,  and  uh- 

'  Memoires  cone,  les  Chinois,  i.  p.  213. 

*  Euseb.,  Praep.  Ev.,  ix.  14  ;  Cory,  Ancient  Fi^gments,  pp.  34-50, 

*  George  Syncellus,  Bibl.  Graec.,  v.  p.  170. 

4  Euseb.  Praep.  £v.,  ix.  17. 


I48  old  testa  men  t  characters. 

known  words  were  at  the  same  time  blown  about  among  men, 
wherefore  arose  strife  and  contention.”  : 

The  Hindu  story  of  the  confusion  of  tongues  and  the  sepa¬ 
ration  of  nations  is  not  connected  with  the  erection  of  a  tower, 
but  with  the  pride  of  the  Tree  of  Knowledge,  or  the  world 
tree.  This  tree  grew  in  the  centre  of  the  earth,  and  its  head 
was  in  heaven.  It  said  in  its  heart,  I  shall  hold  my  head  in 
heaven,  and  spread  my  branches  over  all  the  earth,  and  gather 
all  men  together  under  my  shadow  and  protect  them,  and  pre¬ 
vent  (hem  from  separating.  But  Brahm,  to  punish  the  pride  of 
the  tree,  cut  off  its  branches  and  cast  them  down  on  the  earth, 
where  they  sprang  up  as  Wata  trees,  and  made  differences  of 
belief  and  speech  and  customs  to  prevail  in  the  earth,  to  dis¬ 
perse  men  over  its  surface.2 

The  Dutch  traveller,  Hamel  van  Gorcum,  found  a  tradition 
of  the  Tower  of  Babel,  in  the  seventeenth  century,  in  the  Ko¬ 
rea,  in  the  midst  of  a  sect  which  had  not  adopted  Buddh¬ 
ism,  but  which  retained  much  of  the  old  primitive  Schaman- 
:sm  of  the  race.  They  said,  “  That  formerly  all  men  spake 
the  same  language,  but,  after  building  a  great  tower,  where¬ 
with  they  attempted  to  invade  heaven,  they  fell  into  confusion 
of  tongues.” :i 

The  Mexican  story  was,  that  after  the  Deluge  the  sole  sur¬ 
vivors  Coxcox  and  Chichequetzl  engendered  many  children 
who  were  born  dumb,  but  one  day  received  the  gift  of  speech 
from  a  dove,  which  came  and  perched  itself  on  a  lofty  tree : 
but  the  dove  did  not  communicate  to  them  the  same  language, 
so  they  separated  in  fifteen  companies.  And  Gemelli  Carrer. 
and  Clavigero  describe  an  ancient  Mexican  painting  represent 
ing  the  dove  with  thirty-three  tongues,  answering  to  the  lan¬ 
guages  and  dialects  he  taught.4 

At  Cholula  they  related  that  Xelhuaz  began  to  build  a  tow¬ 
er  on  Mount  Tlalok  to  commemorate  his  having  been  saved 
along  with  his  brothers  from  the  Flood.  And  the  tower  he 
built  in  the  form  of  a  pyram  d.  The  clay  was  baked  into 
bricks  in  the  province  of  Tlamanalco,  at  the  foot  of  the  Sierra 
Cocotl,  and  to  bring  them  to  Cholula  a  row  of  men  was  placed, 
that  the  bricks  might  be  passed  from  hand  to  hand.  The  god/ 

1  Mos.  Chorene,  i.  9. 

*  Muller,  Glauben  u.  Wissen.  d.  Hindus  ;  Mainz,  1832,  i.  p.  30* 

8  Allgem.  Hist.  d.  Reisen,  vi.  p.  602. 

1  Riiken,  p.  287  ;  Amerikanische  U rreligionen,  p.  517,  etc. 


THE  TOWER  OF  BABEL. 


149 


saw  this  building,  whose  top  reached  the  clouds,  with  anger 
and  dismay,  and  sent  fire  from  heaven,  and  destroyed  the 
tower.1 


XXIY. 

ABRAHAM.’ 

I.  HIS  YOUTH  AND  EARLY  STRUGGLES. 

Abraham  or  Abram,  as  he  was  first  called,  was  the  son  of 
Terali,  general  of  Nimrod’s  army,  and  Amtelai,  daughter  of 
Carnebo.  He  was  born  at  Ur  of  the  Chaldees,  in  the  year 
1948  after  the  Creation. 

On  the  night  on  which  Abraham  was  born,  Terah’s  friends, 
amongst  whom  were  many  councillors  and  soothsayers  of  Nim¬ 
rod,  were  feasting  in  the  house.  On  leaving,  late  at  night,  they 
observed  an  unusual  star  in  the  east;  it  seemed  to  run  from 
one  quarter  of  the  heavens  to  another,  and  to  devour  four  stars 
which  were  there.  All  gazed  in  astonishment  on  this  wondrous 
sight.  “  Truly,”  said  they,  “  this  can  signify  nothing  else  but 
that  Terah’s  new-born  son  will  become  great  and  powerful,  will 
conquer  the  whole  realm,  and  dethrone  great  princes,  and  seize 
on  their  possessions.” 

Next  morning  they  hastened  to  the  king,  to  announce  to  him 
what  they  had  seen,  and  what  was  their  interpretation  of  the 
vision,  and  to  advise  the  slaughter  of  the  young  child,  and  that 
Terah  should  be  compensated  with  a  liberal  sum  of  money. 

Nimrod  accordingly  sent  gold  and  silver  to  Terah,  and  asked 
his  son  in  exchange,  but  Terah  refused.  Then  the  king  sent 
and  threatened  to  burn  down  and  utterly  destroy  the  whole 
house  of  Terah,  unless  the  child  were  surrendered.  In  the 
mean  time  one  of  the  female  slaves  had  born  a  son  ;  this  Teiah 
gave  to  the  royal  officers,  who,  supposing  it  to  be  the  son  of  the 
householder,  brought  it  before  Nimrod  and  slew  it. 

Then,  to  secure  Abraham,  Terah  concealed  him  and  his 
mother  and  nurse  in  a  cave. 

1  Humboldt,  Ansichten  d.  Cordilleren,  i.  p.  42. 

*  For  the  Rabbinic  traditions  relating  to  Abraham  I  am  indebted  to 
the  exhaustive  monograph  of  Dr.  B.  Beer.  “  Leben  Abraham’s  nach  Auffas- 
sung  der  jiidischen  Sage,”  Leipzig,  1859,  to  which  I  must  refer  my  readers 
for  references  to  Jewish  books,  which  are  given  with  an  exactitude  which 
leaves  nothing  to  be  desired 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


*5° 


But  there  is  another  version  of  the  story,  and  it  is  as  fol¬ 
lows  : — 

Nimrod  had  long  read  in  the  stars  that  a  child  would  be 
born  who  would  oppose  his  power  and  his  religion,  and  would 
finally  overcome  both. 

Acting  on  the  advice  of  his  wise  men,  he  built  a  house,  sixty 
ells  high  and  eighty  ells  broad,  into  which  all  pregnant  women 
were  brought  to  be  delivered,  and  the  nurses  were  instructed  to 
put  to  death  all  the  boys  that  were  born,  but  to  make  handsome 
presents  to  the  mothers  who  were  brought  to  bed  of  daughters. 

After  seventy  thousand  male  children  had  thus  perished, 
the  angels  of  heaven  turned  to  the  All  Mighty,  and  besought 
Him  with  tears  to  stay  this  cruel  murder  of  innocents. 

“  I  slumber  not,  I  sleep  not,”  God  answered.  “  Ye  shall 
see  that  this  atrocity  shall  not  pass  unpunished.” 

Shortly  after,  Terah’s  wife  was  pregnant;  she  concealed 
her  situation  as  long  as  was  possible,  pretending  that  she  was 
ill ;  but  when  she  could  conceal  it  no  more,  the  infant  crept 
behind  her  breasts,  so  that  she  appeared  to  every  eye  as  if  noth¬ 
ing  were  about  to  take  place. 

When  the  time  came  for  her  delivery,  she  went  in  fear  out 
of  the  city,  and  wandered  in  the  desert  till  she  lighted  on  a 
cave,  into  which  she  entered.  Next  morning  she  was  delivered 
of  a  son,  Abraham,  whose  face  shone,  so  that  the  grotto  was 
as  light  as  though  the  sun  were  casting  a  golden  beam  into  it. 
She  wrapped  the  child  in  a  mantle,  and  left  it  there  to  the  cus¬ 
tody  of  God  and  His  angels,  and  returned  home.  God  heard 
the  cry  of  the  weeping  infant,  and  He  sent  His  angel  Gabriel 
to  the  cave,  who  let  the  child  suck  milk  out  of  his  fore-finger. 
But  according  to  another  account  he  opened  two  holes  in  the 
cave,  from  which  dropped  oil  and  flour  to  nourish  Abraham. 
Others,  however,  say  that  Terah  visited  the  cave  every  day,  and 
nursed  and  fed  the  child. 

According  to  the  Arab  tradition,  which  follows  the  Jewish 
in  most  particulars,  the  mother,  on  visiting  the  cave,  found  the 
infant  sucking  its  two  thumbs.  Now  out  of  one  of  its  thumbs 
flowed  milk,  and  out  of  the  other,  honey,  and  thus  the  babe 
nourished  itself:  or,  say  others,  from  one  finger  flowed  water 
when  he  sucked  it ;  from  a  second,  milk  ;  from  a  third,  honey ; 
from  a  fourth,  the  juice  of  dates ;  and  from  the  little  finger, 
butter.1 


1  Weil.  p.  6q, 


ABRAHAM. 


f5* 

When  Abraham  had  been  in  the  cave,  according  to  some, 
three  years,  according  to  others  ten,  and  according  to  others 
thirteen,  he  left  the  cavern  and  stood  on  the  face  of  the  desert. 
And  when  he  saw  the  sun  shining  in  all  its  glory,  he  was  filled 
with  wonder,  and  he  thought,  “Surely  the  sun  is  God  the  Cre¬ 
ator  !  ”  and  he  knelt  down  and  worshipped  the  sun.  But  when 
evening  came,  the  sun  went  down  in  the  west,  and  Abraham 
said,  “  No  !  the  Author  of  creation  cannot  set.”  Now  the 
moon  arose  in  the  east,  and  the  stars  looked  out  of  the  firma¬ 
ment.  Then  said  Abraham,  “This  moon  must  indeed  be  God, 
and  all  the  stars  are  His  host !  ”  And  kneeling  down  he  adored 
the  moon. 

But  after  some  hours  of  darkness  the  moon  set,  and  from 
the  east  appeared  once  more  the  bright  face  of  the  sun.  Then 
said  Abraham,  “Verily  these  heavenly  bodies  are  no  gods,- 
for  they  obey  law:  I  will  worship  Him  who  imposed  the  law 
upon  them.” 

The  Arab  story  is  this.  When  Abraham  came  out  of  the 
cave,  he  saw  a  number  of  flocks  and  herds,  and  he  said  to  his 
mother,  “  Who  is  lord  of  these  ?  ”  She  answered,  “  Your  father 
Azar  (Terah).”  “And  who  is  the  lord  of  Azar?”  he  further 
asked.  She  replied,  “  Nimrod.”  “  And  who  is  the  lord  of 
Nimrod  ?  ”  “  Oh,  hush,  my  son,”  said  she,  striking  him  on  the 

mouth ;  “  you  must  not  push  your  questions  so  far.”  But  it 
was  by  following  this  train  of  thought  that  Abraham  arrived  at 
the  knowledge  of  the  one  true  God. 

Another  Rabbinical  story  is,  that  Abraham  was  only  ten 
days  in  the  cave  after  his  birth,  and  then  he  was  able  to  walk, 
and  he  left  it.  But  his  mother,  who  visited  the  grotto,  finding 
him  gone,  was  a  prey  to  anguish  and  fear. 

Wandering  along  the  bank  of  the  river,  searching  for  her 
child,  she  met  Abraham,  but  did  not  recognize  him,  as  he  had 
grown  tall ;  and  she  asked  him  if  he  had  seen  a  little  baby 
anywhere. 

“  I  am  he  whom  you  seek,”  answered  Abraham. 

“  Is  this  possible  1  ”  exclaimed  the  mother.  “  Could  you 
grow  to  such  a  height,  and  be  able  to  walk  and  talk,  in  ten 
days  ?  ” 

“  Yes,  mother,”  answered  the  youthful  prodigy  ;  “  all  this 
has  taken  place  that  you  might  know  that  there  is  but  one 
living  and  true  God  who  made  heaven  and  earth,  who  dwells 
w  heaven  and  fills  the  earth  with  His  goodness.” 


*5* 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


“  What !  ”  asked  Amtelai,  “  is  there  another  god  besides 
Nimrod  ?  ” 

“  By  all  means,”  replied  the  infant  son ;  "  there  is  a  God  in 
heaven,  who  is  also  the  God  who  made  Nimrod.  Now  go  to 
Nimrod  and  announce  this  to  him.” 

Abraham’s  mother  related  all  this  to  her  husband,  who  bore 
the  message  to  the  king.  Nimrod,  greatly  alarmed,  consulted 
his  council  what  was  to  be  done  with  the  boy.1 

The  council  replied  that  he  had  nothing  to  fear  from  an 
infant  of  ten  days, — he,  the  king  and  god  of  the  world  !  But 
Nimrod  was  not  satisfied.  Then  Satan,  putting  on  a  black 
robe,  mingled  with  the  advisers  of  the  monarch  and  said,  “  Let 
the  king  open  his  arsenal,  arm  all  his  troops,  and  march  against 
this  precocious  infant.  This  advice  fell  in  completely  with 
Nimrod’s  own  personal  fears,  and  his  army  was  marched  against 
the  baby.  But  when  Abraham  saw  the  host  drawn  up  in  bat¬ 
tle  array,  he  cried  to  heaven  with  many  tears,  and  Gabriel 
came  to  his  succor,  enveloped  the  infant  in  clouds,  and 
snatched  him  from  the  sight  of  those  w'ho  came  against  him 
and  they,  frightened  at  the  cloud  and  darkness,  fled  precipi¬ 
tately  to  Babylon. 

Abraham  followed  them  on  the  shoulders  of  Gabriel,  and 
reaching  the  gates  of  the  city  in  an  instant  of  time,  he  cried, 
“  The  eternal  One  is  the  true  and  only  God,  and  none  other 
is  like  Him  !  He  is  the  God  of  heaven,  God  of  gods  and  Lord 
of  Nimrod !  Be  convinced  of  this,  all  ye  men,  women  and 
children  who  dwed  here,  even  I  am  Abraham,  his  servant.” 
Then  he  sought  his  parents,  and  bade  Terah  go  and  fulfil  his 
command  to  Nimrod. 

Terah  went  accordingly,  and  announced  to  the  king  that  his 
son,  whom  the  army  had  been  unable  to  capture,  had,  in  a  brief 
space  of  time,  traversed  a  country  across  which  was  forty  days’ 
journey. 

Nimrod  quaked,  and  consulted  his  princes,  who  advised  him 
to  institute  a  festival  of  seven  days,  during,  which  every  subject 
and  dweller  on  the  face  of  the  earth  was  to  make  a  pilgrimage 
to  his  palace,  and  there  to  worship  and  adore  him. 

In  the  mean  time  Nimrod,  being  very  curious  to  see  Abraham, 

1  The  Mussulman  history  of  the  patriarch  relates  that  Azar  brought 
Abraham  before  Nimrod  and  said,  “  This  is  thy  God  who  made  all  things." 
“Then  why  did  he  not  make  himself  less  ugly?”  asked  Abraham — for 
Nimrod  had  bad  features.  x 


ABRAHAM. 


153 


ordered  Terah  to  bring  him  into  his  royal  presence.  The  child 
entered  the  throne-room  boldly,  and  going  to  the  loot  of  the 
steps  which  led  to  the  throne,  he  exclaimed  ;•  “  Woe  to  thee, 
accursed  Nimrod,  blasphemer  of  God!  Acknowledge,  O 
Nimrod,  that  the  true  God  is  without  body,  everlasting,  never 
slumbering  nor  sleeping;  acknowledge  that  He  created  the 
world,  that  all  men  may  believe  in  Him  likewise !  ” 

At  the  same  moment  all  the  idols  in  the  palace  fell,  and 
the  king  rolled  from  his  throne  in  convulsions,  and  remained 
in  a  fit  for  two  hours. 

When  he  came  to  himself  again,  he  said  to  Abraham,  “  Was 
that  thy  voice,  or  was  it  the  voice  of  God  ?” 

Abraham  answered,  “  It  was  the  voice  of  the  meanest  of 
His  creatures.” 

“  Then  your  God  must  be  great  and  mighty,  and  a  King 
of  kings.” 

Nimrod  now  suffered  Abraham  to  depart,  and  as  his  an¬ 
ger  was  abated,  the  child  remained  in  his  father’*-  house,  and 
no  attempts  were  made  against  his  life. 

Here  must  be  inserted  a  legend  of  the  childb  )d  of  Abra 
ham,  which  I  have  ventured  to  render  into  verse. 

THE  GIFT  OF  THE  KING. 

Nimrod  the  Cushite  sat  upon  a  throne 
Of  gold,  encrusted  with  a  sapphire  stone, 

And  round  the  monarch  stood,  in  triple  rank. 

Three  hundred  ruddy  pages,  like  a  bank 
Of  roses  all  a-blow, 

Two  gentle  boys,  with  blue  eyes  clear  as  glass. 

And  locks  as  light  as  tufted  cotton  grass. 

And  faces  as  the  snow 
That  lies  on  Ararat,  and  flushes  pink 
On  summer  evenings,  as  the  sun  doth  sink. 

Were  stationed  by  the  royal  golden  chair 
With  fillets  of  carnation  in  their  hair, 

And  clothed  in  silken  vesture,  candid,  clean, 

To  flutter  fans  of  burnished  blue  and  green, 

Fashioned  of  peacock’s  plume. 

A  little  lower,  on  a  second  stage 
On  either  side,  was  placed  a  graceful  page, 

To  raise  a  fragrant  fume — 

With  costly  woods  and  gums  on  burning  coals 
That  glowed  or  tripods,  in  bright  silver  bowis  ; 

And  at  the  basement  of  the  marble  stair, 

Sweet  singing  choirs  and  harping  minstrels  wert 
In  amber  kirtles  purple  mlt  and  sashed. 


7 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS 


*54 


The  throbbing  strings  in  silver  ripples  flashed, 
Where  slaves  the  choral  Bong 
Accompanied  with  psaltery  and  lyre, 

In  red  and  saffron,  like  to  men  of  fire, 

Whilst  hoarsely  boomed  the  gong  : 

Or  silver  cymbals  clashed,  or,  waxing  shrill, 
Danced  up  the  scale  a  flute’s  melodious  thnLL 

Now  at  the  monarch’s  signal,  pages  twain, 

With  sunny  hair  as  ripened  autumn  grain, 

And  robed  in  lustrous  .silver  tissue,  shot 
With  changing  hues  of  blue  forget-me-not, 

Start  nimbly  forth,  and  bend 
Before  the  monarch,  at  his  gilded  stool, 

And  crystal  goblets  brimming,  sweet  and  cool, 
Obsequiously  extend  ; 

But  Nimrod,  slightly  stirring,  stately,  calm, 
Towards  the  right-hand  beaker  thrusts  his  artfl, 
And  languid,  raises  it  towards  his  lips  ; 

Yet  ere  he  of  the  ruby  liquor  sips, 

He  notices  upon  the  surface  lie — 

Fallen  in  and  fluttering — a  feeble  fly, 

With  draggled  wings  outspread. 

Then  shot  from  Nimrod’s  eyes  an  angry  flare, 

And  passionately  down  the  marble  stair 
The  costly  draught  he  shed. 

He  spoke  no  word,  but  with  a  finger  wave, 

Made  signal  to  a  scarlet-vested  slave  ; 

And  as  the  lad  before  him,  quaking,  kneels, 

Above  him  swift  the  gleaming  falchion  wheels. 
Then  flashes  down,  and,  with  one  leap,  his  head 
Bounds  from  his  shoulders,  and  bespirts  with  red 
The  alabaster  floor. 

And,  mingled  with  the  outpoured  Persian  wine. 
Descends  the  steps  a  sliding  purple  line 
Of  smoking,  dribbled  gore  ; 

And  floats  the  little  midge  upon  a  flood 
Of  fragrant  grape-juice,  and  of  roseate  blood. 

Then  Nimrod  said  :  “  I  would  you  ugly  stain 
Were  wiped  away  ;  and  thou,  my  chamberlain, 
Obtain  for  me  a  stripling,  to  replace 
This  petty  fool.  Let  him  have  comely  face, 

And  be  of  slender  mould  : 

Be  lithely  built,  of  noble  birth  ;  a  youth, 

The  choicest  thou  canst  find.  His  cost,  in  sooth  ; 

I  heed  not.  Stint  no  gold. 

But  buy  a  goodly  slave  :  for  I,  a  king, 

Will  have  the  best,  the  best  of  every  thing— 

Of  gems,  of  slaves,  of  fabrics,  meats,  or  mot  ; 
The  best,  the  very  best  on  earth  be  mine,'' 


ABRAHAM. 


T55 


Then,  prostrate  flung  before  his  master’s  throne. 

The  servant  said,  “  Sire  !  Terah  hath  a  son 
Whose  equal  in  the  whole  round  world  is  none, 

Beloved  as  himself. 

But,  Sire  !  I  fear  the  father  will  not  deign 
To  yield  his  son  as  slave  through  love  of  gain, 

For  great  is  he  in  wealth.” 

“  Go  !  ”  said  the  monarch,  “  I  must  have  the  child : 

Be  sure  the  father  can  be  reconciled, 

If  you  expend  of  gold  a  goodly  store, 

And,  if  he  haggles  at  your  price,  bid  more ; 

I  will  it,  chamberlain  ! 

I  care  not  what  the  cost.  I’ll  have  the  lad  ! " 

And  then,  he  leaned  him  idly  back,  and  bade 
The  slaves  to  fan  again. 

Now  on  the  morrow,  to  the  royal  court, 

Terah  Ben-Nahor  from  old  Ur  was  brought — 
Protesting  loud  he  would  not  yield  his  son 
As  slave,  at  any  price,  to  any  one. 

“  My  flesh  and  blood  be  sold  ! 

Fie  on  you  !  Do  you  reckon  that  I  prize 
My  first-begotten  as  mere  merchandise. 

To  barter  him  for  gold  ! 

A  curse  on  him  who  would  the  old  man’s  stay, 

That  bears  him  up,  with,  money  buy  away  ! 

Require  me  not  to  offer  child  of  mine 
To  serve  and  brim  a  tyrant’s  cup  with  wine  { 

To  waste  a  life  from  morning  to  its  grave, 

Branded  in  mind  and  soul  and  body  ‘  Slave !' 

Flow  could  I  be  repaid  ? 

His  artless  fondlings,  all  his  childish  ways  : 

The  reminiscences  of  olden  days, 

That  sudden  flash  and  fade. 

Of  her  who  bore  him — her,  my  boyhood’s  choice — 
Resemblances  in  feature,  figure,  voice, 

In  gesture,,  mannar,  ay  !  in  very  tone 
Of  pealing  laugh,  of  that  dear  partner  gone  ? 

Thou,  Nimrod,  to  an  old  man  condescend 
To  hear  his  story  ;  your  attention  lend, 

And  judge  if  acted  well. 

Last  year  to  me  thou  gav’st  a  goodly  steed. 

From  thine  own  stud,  of  purest  Yemen  breed  : 

And  thus  it  me  befel. 

A  stranger  offered  me  a  price  so  fair 
That  I  accepted  it,  and  sold  the  mare.” 

“  My  gift  disposed  of  !  ”  with  an  angry  start, 

King  Nimrod  thundered  :  “  Thou,  old  man,  shah  smart 
For  this  thy  avarice.  A  royal  gift, 

Thou  knowest  well,  must  never  owner*  shift. 

As  thing  of  little  worth. 


*5$ 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


Then  Terah  raised  his  trembling  hands,  and  said, 

“  From  thine  own  mouth,  O  King  has  judgment  sped. 

The  Lord  of  Heaven  and  Earth, 

The  King  of  Kings  to  me  my  offspring  gave, 

And  shall  I  sell  His  gift  to  be  a  slave  ? 

Nimrod  !  that  child,  which  is  His  royal  gift, — 

Thy  mouth  hath  said  it, — may  not  owners  shift.” 

At  this  time  idolatry  was  commonly  practised  by  all.  Nim¬ 
rod  and  his  servants  Terah  and  his  whole  house  worshipped 
images  of  wood  and  stone.  Terah  had  151 1  only  twelve  idols 
of  the  twelve  months  which  he  adored,  but  he  manufactured 
images  and  sold  them. 

One  day,  when  Terah  was  absent,  and  Abraham  was  left 
to  manage  the  shop,  he  thought  the  time  had  come  when 
he  must  make  his  protest  against  idolatry.  This  he  did 
as  follows.  Every  purchaser  who  came,  was  asked  by 
Abraham  his  age  ;  if  he  answered  fifty  or  sixty  years  old, 
Abraham  exclaimed,  “  Woe  to  a  man  of  such  an  age  who 
adores  the  work  of  one  day  !  ”  and  the  purchaser  withdrew 
in  shame. 

Another  version  of  the  incident  is  more  full. 

A  strong,  lusty  fellow  came  one  day  to  buy  an  idol,  the 
strongest  that  there  was.  As  he  was  going  away  with  it, 
Abraham  called  after  him,  “  How  old  are  you?  ” 

“  Seventy  years,”  he  answered. 

“  Oh,  you  fool !  ”  said  Abraham,  “  to  adore  a  god  younger 
than  yourself.” 

“  What  do  you  mean  ?  ”  asked  the  purchaser. 

“  Why,  you  were  born  seventy  years  ago,  and  this  god  was 
made  only  yesterday.” 

Hearing  this,  the  buyer  threw  the  idol  away. 

Shortly  after,  an  old  woman  brought  a  dish  of  meal  to  set 
before  the  idols.  Abraham  took  it,  and  then  with  a  stick 
smashed  all  the  gods  except  the  biggest,  into  whose  hands  he 
placed  the  stick. 

Terah,  who  was  returning  home,  heard  the  noise  of  blows, 
and  quickened  his  pace.  When  he  entered,  his  gods  were  in 
pieces. 

He  accused  Abraham  angrily;  but  Abraham  said,  “My 
father,  a  woman  brought  this  dish  of  meal  for  the  gods  :  they 
all  wanted  to  have  it,  and  the  strongest  knocked  the  heads 
off  the  rest,  lest  they  should  eat  it  all.”  And  this,  say  the 


ABRAHAM. 


*57 

Mussulmans,  was  the  first  lie  that  Abraham  told,  but  it  was 
not  a  lie,  but  a  justifiable  falsehood. 

Terah  said  this  could  not  be  true,  for  the  images  were  of 
wood  and  stone. 

“  Let  thine  ear  hear  what  thy  mouth  hath  spoken,”  said 
Abraham,  and  then  he  exhorted  his  father  against  idolatry. 

Terah  complained  to  Nimrod,  who  sent  for  Abraham,  and 
he  said  to  him,  “  Wilt  thou  not  worship  these  idols  ?  Well, 
then,  adore  fire.” 

“  Why  not  water  which  quenches  fire?”  asked  Abraham. 

Nimrod. — “Very  well  ;  then  worship  water.” 

Abraham. — “  Why  not  the  clouds  which  swallow  the 
water  ?  ” 

Nimrod. — “  So  be  it;  adore  the  clouds.” 

Abraham. — “  Rather  let  me  adore  wind  which  blows  the 
clouds  about.” 

Nimrod. — “  So  be  it  ;  pray  to  the  wind.” 

Abraham. — “  But  man  can  stand  up  against  the  wind,  and 
build  it  out  of  his  house.”  * 

Then  Nimrod  in  a  fury  exclaimed,  “  Fire  is  my  god,  and 
that  shall  consume  you.” 

According  to  another  version,  a  woman  came  to  Abraham 
to  buy  a  god,  because  thieves  had  stolen  her  former  god ; 
this  gave  the  patriarch  a  text  for  his  homily  against  idolatry. 
The  woman  was  convinced. 

“  Believe  in  the  true  God,”  said  he,  “  and  you  will  recover 
the  things  the  thieves  stole  from  your  house.” 

A  few  days  after,  the  woman  recovered  all  her  lost  goods, 
amongst  them  her  image.  Then  she  took  a  stone,  and 
smashed  its  head,  saying,  “  Oh,  thou  blockhead,  not  to  be 
able  to  preserve  my  property  and  myself  from  thieves !  ” 

The  report  of  what  she  had  said  and  done  reached  the  king, 
who  ordered  her  to  be  executed.  But  Nimrod  was  uneasy, 
and  he  announced  a  great  ceremony  to  last  for  seven  days, 
during  which  every  one  was  to  produce  his  gods  and  carry 
them  about  the  streets,  which  were  to  be  hung  with  gold  and 
silks.  His  object  was  to  dazzle  Abraham's  eyes  by  the  splen¬ 
dor  of  idol  worship.  He  sent  for  Terah  and  Abraham,  but 
the  latter  refused  to  attend.  The  Mussulmans  say  that  Abra¬ 
ham  excused  himself  thus  :  “  I  see  in  the  stars  that  I  am  go¬ 
ing  to  be  very  sick  to-day.”  This  was  the  second  lie  Abraham 
told,  but  it  was  not  a  lie,  it  was  a  justifiable  falsehood.  Then 


‘58 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS . 


the  king  sent  his  guard,  who  arrested  him  and  cast  him  into  a 
dungeon. 

He  lay  in  the  dungeon  ten  days.  The  angel  Gabriel 
brought  him  food,  and  a  crystal  fountain  bubbled  up  through 
the  soil  of  his  cell. 

Nimrod  called  his  council  together,  and  it  was  unanimous¬ 
ly  decided  that  Abraham  should  be  burnt  alive.  The  king 
therefore  published  a  decree  ordering  every  man  to  bring  wood 
or  other  fuel  for  the  heating  of  the  kiln.1  The  wood  was  piled 
about  the  furnace  to  the  height  of  five  ells,  for  a  circle  of  five 
ells  diameter,  and  for  three  days  and  three  nights  the  fire  was 
kept  up,  and  the  flames  licked  the  heavens,  so  that  the  oven 
was  at  a  white  heat.  Then  Nimrod  ordered  his  jailer  to  pro¬ 
duce  Abraham.  The  prison-keeper  humbly  answered,  that  it 
was  impossible  that  Abraham  could  be  alive,  for  he  had  been 
given  neither  meat  nor  drink.  But  Nimrod  answered,  “  Pro¬ 
duce  him  alive  or  dead.” 

Then  the  jailer  went  to  the  prison  door  and  cried,  “Abra¬ 
ham,  livest  thou  ?  ” 

“  I  live,”  answered  the  prisoner,  “and  am  hearty.” 

“  How  is  that  possible?”  asked  the  jailer,  astonished. 

“  Because  the  Almighty  has  wrought  a  miracle  on  my  be¬ 
half.  He  is  sole  God,  invisible,  the  Creator  of  the  world,  and 
the  Lord  of  Nimrod.”' 

The  jailer  believed. 

The  news  was  conveyed  to  Nimrod,  who  ordered  the  im¬ 
mediate  execution  of  the  jailer ;  but  as  the  executioner  was 
about  to  smite  off  his  head,  he  cried,  “  The  Eternal  One  is 
alone  the  true  God  of  the  world,  and  the  God  of  Nimrod  who 
denies  him.”  And  lo  !  the  sword  was  blunted,  and  shivered 
into  a  thousand  fragments. 

Here  we  must  add  a  few  particulars  from  Mussulman 
sources. 

“  Who  is  your  God  ?  ”  asked  Nimrod  of  Abraham,  when 
brought  before  him. 

“  He  who  kills  and  makes  alive  again,”  said  Abraham. 

1  The  Mussulman  story,  which  is  precisely  the  same  as  the  Jewish, 
adds  that  the  camels  refused  to  bear  wood  to  form  the  pyre,  but  cast  it  on 
the  ground  ;  therefore  Abraham  blessed  the  camels.  But  the  mules  had  no 
compunction,  therefore  he  cursed  them  that  they  should  be  sterile.  The 
birds  who  flew  over  the  fire  were  killed,  the  city  was  enveloped  in  its 
smoke,  and  the  crackling  of  its  flames  could  be  heard  a  day’s  journey  off. 


ABRAHAM. 


159 

“I  can  do  that,”  exclaimed  Nimrod,  and  he  ordered  two 
pnsoners  before  him  ;  one  he  slew,  the  other  he  spared. 

But  Abraham  said,  “  Behold  the  power  of  my  God  !  ”  and 
he  bade  a  dead  man  who  had  been  four  years  in  his  grave, 
rise  and  bring  him  a  white  cock,  a  black  raven,  a  green  pigeon, 
and  a  gayly-colored  peacock.  The  dead  man  rose  and  obey¬ 
ed.  Then  Abraham  ..  cut  up  the  birds,  but  preserved  their 
heads ;  and  lo  !  from  the  heads  new  bodies  sprouted, 

“  Now,”  said  Abraham,  “  do  the  same.” 

But  Nimrod  could  not. 

“  If  thou  art  a  God,”  said  Abraham  again,  “  command  the 
sun  to  rise  to-morrow  in  the  west  and  set  in  the  east.” 

But  this  he  could  not  do.1 

Nimrod  was  highly  incensed,  and  ordered  that  Abraham 
should  be  at  once  precipitated  into  the  tire.  When  he  was 
brought  before  the  king,  say  the  Rabbis,  the  soothsayers  rec¬ 
ognized  him  as  the  boy  at  whose  birth  they  had  warned  the 
king  that  one  was  come  into  the  world  who  would  be  the  fa¬ 
ther  of  a  great  nation  which  would  subdue  that  of  Nimrod, 
and  would  possess  the  whole  earth  and  heaven. 

“  This  is  the  man  against  whom  we  cautioned  you,”  they 
said;  “his  father  Terah  must  have  deceived  you,  O  king,  and 
^not  have  given  you  up  the  right  child.” 

Terah,  on  being  questioned,  owned  the  truth. 

“  Who  gave  you  this  advice  ?  ”  asked  the  king ;  “  confess 
it,  and  your  life  shall  be  spared.” 

Out  of  fear  Terah  told  a  lie,  and  said  that  Haran,  his  oth¬ 
er  son,  had  suggested  the  deception. 

“  For  having  given  this  advice,”  said  Nimrod,  “  Haran  shall 
perish  along  with  Abraham.  Cast  them  both  into  the  flames.” 
Abraham  and  Haran  were  now  to  be  stripped  and  their  hands 
and  feet  bound  by  ropes,  and  then  they  were  to  be  thrown  into 
the  fire.  But  the  servants  of  Nimrod  who  approached  the 
brothers  were  caught  by  the  flames  which,  like  the  tongues  of 
serpents,  shot  out,  curled  round  them,  drew  them  into  the  lire, 
and  consumed  them. 

Then  Satan  appeared  to  Nimrod,  and  instructed  him  how 
to  make  a  catapult  which  would  throw  stones  to  a  distance, 
and  by  means  of  which  Abraham  and  Haran  could  be  project¬ 
ed  into  the  midst  of  the  fire. 


1  Weil,  p.  78. 


160  OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS , 

Haran  was  undecided  in  his  mind  whether  to  worship  God 
or  idols ;  sometimes  he  sided  with  Abraham,  aud  sometimes 
with  Terah.  Now,  the  moment  Haran  was  shot  into  the  flames, 
his  heart  failed  him,  and  he  cried  out  that  he  would  worship 
idols  if  his  life  were  spared.  But  it  was  too  late,  he  was  burnt 
to  ashes.  But  Abraham  was  unharmed.  The  cords  which 
bound  him  were  consumed,  but  for  three  days  and  nights  he 
walked  about  in  the  flames,  and  felt  no  inconvenience.1 

Then  the  king  cried  aloud.  “  Abraham,  servant  of  the  God 
of  Heaven,  come  forth  from  the  furnace  to  me.” 

And  Abraham  came  forth.  Then  the  king  said  to  him, 
“  How  is  it  that  thou  art  not  consumed  ?  ”  And  Abraham  an¬ 
swered,  “  The  Lord  God  of  Heaven  and  Earth,  whom  I  serve, 
hath  delivered  me.” 

Instantly  the  flames  were  extinguished,  and  the  wood  burst 
forth  into  flower  and  fruit ;  and  the  pile  was  like, a  grove  of 
flowering  shrubs  to  look  upon,  and  Angels  descended  and  took 
Abraham  and  seated  him  in  the  midst. 

» 

The  Arabic  version  of  this  part  of  the  story  is  something 
different. 

Nimrod  could  not  see  into  the  fire,  so  he  ascended  a  high 
tower  in  his  palace,  and  from  the  top  looked  down  into  the 
furnace,  and  saw  that  in  the  midst  was  a  garden  with  flowers 
and  a  fountain  of  sparkling  water,  and  Abraham  seated  on  the 
grass  beside  the  spring,  conversing  with  an  angel.2 

Nimrod  now  loaded  Abraham  with  presents,  amongst 
which  were  two  slaves  named  Oni  and  Eliezer ;  according  to 
some,  the  latter  was  a  son  of  the  tyrant.  Many  followed  Abra¬ 
ham  home,  and  brought  their  children  to  him,  and  said,  “Now 
we  see  that  the  God  in  whom  thou  trustest,  is  the  only  true 
God ;  teach  our  children  the  truth,  that  they  may  serve  Him 
in  righteousness.”  Thus  three  hundred  persons  accompanied 
Abraham  home,  most  of  whom  were  servants  of  the  king,  and 
of  noble  race. 

Here  follows  in  the  Mussulman  account  the  story  of  Nim 
iod’s  attempt  to  reach  heaven  in  a  box,  to  which  were  attach¬ 
ed  four  vultures.  His  object  was,  says  Tabari,  to  kill  the  God 
of  Abraham.  He  went  up  along  with  his  vizir.  After  a  night 

1  Both  the  Rabbinic  commentators  and  the  Mussulman  historians  tell 
a  long  story  about  the  discussion  carried  on  between  Gabriel  and  Abra¬ 
ham  in  the  air,  as  he  was  being  shot  into  the  flames.  It  is  hardly  worth 
repeating.  *  Tabari,  i.  p.  147. 


ABRAHAM, 


l6i 

and  day  in  the  air,  the  king  said  to  his  vizir,  “  Open  the  win¬ 
dow  of  the  box  towards  the  earth  and  tell  me  what  you  see.” 
He  did  so,  and  replied,  “  I  see  the  earth.”  After  another  day 
and  night,  he  again  looked  out  and  saw  the  earth  still  ;  on  the 
third  day,  at  the  king’s  command  he  looked  out  and  saw  noth¬ 
ing.  Then  said  Nimrod,  “  Open  the  window  towards  heaven 
and  look  out.”  He  did  so  and  saw  nothing.  Then  Nimrod 
shot  three  arrows  into  the  sky,  and  they  fell  back  with  blood 
on  them.  So  Nimrod  said,  “  I  have  killed  the  God  of  Abra¬ 
ham.”  But  whence  the  blood  came  is  unsettled.  Some  say 
that  the  arrows  hit  a  bird  which  flew  higher  than  the  vultures  ; 
but  others,  with  more  probability,  say  they  struck  a  fish,  which 
was  being  carried  by  the  wind,  that  had  caught  it  up  with  the 
rain  out  of  the  sea.1 

Abraham  now  married  the  daughter  of  his  brother  Haran, 
named  Sarai  or  Jisha,  “  the  seeress,”  because  she  was  endow¬ 
ed  with  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  say  some,  or,  say  others,  be¬ 
cause  she  was  so  beautiful  that  every  one  wanted  to  see  her. 
At  the  time  of  his  marriage,  Abraham  was  aged  fifty  ;  others, 
however,  suggest  twenty-five. 

Two  years  later,  Nimrod  was  visited  with  a  dream.  He 
saw  himself  and  all  his  army  in  a  valley,  near  the  furnace  into 
which  he  had  cast  Abraham.  A  man  resembling  the  latter 
stepped  out  of  the  furnace  and  approached  the  king,  holding  a 
naked  sword.  When  Nimrod  recoiled,  the  man  cast  an  egg  at 
his  head  ;  the  egg  broke  and  became  a  mighty  river,  which 
swept  all  his  hosts  away,  saving  only  three  men  ;  and  on  look¬ 
ing  at  them,  the  king  saw  that  they  wore  royal  robes,  and  ex¬ 
actly  resembled  himself.  Then  the  stream  retreated  into  the 
egg,  and  when  all  the  water  was  gathered  into  it,  from  the  egg 
hopped  out  a  chicken,  which  seated  itself  on  Nimrod’s  head, 
and  pecked  out  one  of  his  eyes. 

Next  morning  the  king  sent  for  his  soothsayers  to  explain 
the  dream,  and  this  was  their  interpretation;  “  Hear,  O  king  S 
this  dream  presages  to  thee  great  misfortune,  which  Abraham 
and  his  posterity  shall  bring  upon  thee.  The  time  will  come 
when  he  will  war  with  his  forces  against  thee  and  thy  forces, 
and  will  overcome  them  and  put  them  to  the  sword.  Thou 
alone  wilt  escape  with  three  of  thy  confederates  ;  but  a  mes¬ 
senger  of  Abraham  will  cause  thy  death.  Therefore,  O  king  1 


1  Weil,  p.  78, 


i6a 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


remember  that  thy  council  of  wise  men  foretold  this  fifty- two 
years  ago,  in  the  stars  at  Abraham’s  birth.  As  long  as  Abra¬ 
ham  lives  thou  art  in  jeopardy.  Wherefore  could  he  be  suffered 
to  live  any  longer  ?  ” 

Nimrod  believing  what  was  said,  sent  a  servant  to  assas¬ 
sinate  Abraham.  But  Eliezer,  the  slave,  whom  Nimrod  had 
given  to  the  patriarch,  had  been  with  the  councillors  when  this 
advice  was  given,  and  he  fled  and  told  Abraham  before  the 
emissary  of  the  tyrant  arrived  ;  and  Abraham  left  his  house 
and  took  refuge  with  Noah  and  Shem,  and  remained  hidden 
with  them  for  the  space  of  one  month. 

Here  Terah  sought  him  in  secret ;  and  Abraham  addressed 
him  a  long  discourse  on  the  vanity  of  idol-worship  and  the 
evil  of  serving  the  godless  tyrant  Nimrod.  And  Noah  and 
Shem  supported  him. 

Then  Terah,  who  grieved  over  the  death  of  his  son  Haran, 
consented  to  all  that  Abraham  had  said,  and  he  went  forth 
with  Abraham  and  his  wife  Sarah,  and  Lot  his  grandson,  the 
son  of  Haran,  and  all  his  household,  and  they  settled  at  Cha- 
ran,  where  the  land  was  fruitful  and  well  watered.  The  dwell¬ 
ers  in  Charan  associated  themselves  with  Abraham,  who  in- 
itructed  them  in  the  knowledge  and  fear  of  the  Lord. 


2.  THK  CALL  OF  ABRAHAM,  AND  THE  VISIT  TO  EGYPT. 

For  three  years  Abraham  dwelt  in  Charan,  till  God  called 
him  to  go  further  with  his  wife  Sarah,  and  to  take  up  his  abode 
in  Canaan  ;  but  Terah  and  Lot  remained  at  Charan.  Abraham 
reached  Canaan  and  pitched  his  tent  among  the  inhabitants 
of  that  land  ;  and  on  the  spot  where  God  promised  that  He 
would  give  him  all  that  pleasant  country  for  his  inheritance,  he 
erected  an  altar  to  the  Eternal  One. 

For  fifteen  years  he  had  dwelt  in  Canaan,  and  Abraham 
was  now  aged  70,  when,  on  the  15th  day  of  the  first  month 
(Nisan),  on  the  self-same  day  on  which,  in  after  years,  the 
children  of  Israel  went  out  of  Egypt,  the  voice  of  God  came  to 
him  saying,  “  I  am  the  Lord  that  brought  thee  out  of  the  fur¬ 
nace  of  Chaldcea  ;  to  thee  will  I  give  this  land  to  inherit  it.” 
And  he  said,  “  Lord  God,  whereby  shall  I  know  that  1  shall 
inherit  it  ?  Shall  my  descendants  be  faithful  and  true,  and 
serve  Thee  the  living  God,  or  will  they  reDel  against  God, 


ABRAHAM.  163 

agiinst  Thee,  as  did  the  men  before  the  Flood,  and  as  did  the 
men  of  Shinar  who  builded  the  tower  ?  ” 

Then  God  bade  him  take  an  heifer  of  three  years  old,  or  a 
she-goat  of  three  years  old,  and  a  ram,  and  a  turtle-dove,  and  a 
young  pigeon.  And  he  took  all  these  and  divided  them  in  the 
midst,  and  laid  each  piece  one  against  another  ;  but  the  birds 
divided  he  not.1  And  God  said  to  him,  “  When,  in  after  days, 
thy  descendants  shall  build  me  a  temple,  in  it  shall  these  five 
kinds  of  victims  be  offered  to  me. 

“  But,”  said  Abraham,  “  should  the  temple  be  destroyed, 
what  then  shall  they  do  ?  ” 

“  Then,”  answered  the  Most  Holy,  “  They  shall  offer  to 
me  in  spirit,  and  I  will  pardon  their  sins.”  The  beasts  and 
birds  also  signified  the  races  over  which  his  seed  was  to  reign  ; 
the  beasts  he  divided,  and  they  betokened  the  Gentile  races, 
from  which  they  were  to  purge  away  their  idolatry  ;  but  the  birds 
divided  he  not ;  for  the  birds  signified  the  elect  nation. 

Then  came  ravens  and  vultures  down  upon  the  carcases,  but 
Abraham  drove  them  away  (ver.  11)  ;  a  symbol  of  the  protec¬ 
tion  which  God  would  accord  to  the  people,  for  His  promise 
sake,  and  the  sake  of  their  father  Abraham,  when  the  powers 
of  evil,  or  mighty  princes,  menaced  them. 

And  when  the  sun  was  going  down,  a  deep  sleep  fell  upon 
Abraham  (ver.  12),  and  he  saw  the  four  realms, — the  horror¬ 
awakening  Babylonian,  Medo-Persian,  Syro-Grecian,  and  Ro¬ 
man  empires.  And  God  said  to  Abraham  (ver.  13),  “  Know 
of  a  surety  that  thy  seed  shall  be  a  stranger  in  a  land  that  is  not 
theirs ,  and  shall  serve  them  ;  and  they  shall  afflict  the?n  four  hun¬ 
dred  years .  But  in  the  fourth  generation  thy  seed  shall  come 
hither  again,  after  I  have  plagued  the  nation  that  has  held  them 
in  bondage  with  250  plagues.” 

“  Is  this  decree  spoken  to  punish  me  for  my  crimes  ?  ”  asked 
Abraham. 

“  No,”  answered  the  Almighty  :  “  Thou  shalt  go  to  thy  fath¬ 
ers  in  peace ;  thou  shall  be  buried  in  a  good  old  age  (ver.  15);  and 
Terah,  who  now  bewails  his  former  idolatry,  has  a  share  in  the 
eternal  happiness ;  also  Ishmael,  thy  son,  who  shall  be  born  to 
thee,  will,  in  thy  lifetime,  repent  and  return  to  good,  and  the 
profanity  of  thy  grandson  Esau  shalt  thou  not  see.” 

And  when  the  sun  was  set,  it  was  dark,  and  the  various  pe- 


1  Gen.  xv. 


(64  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 

riods  of  futurity  passed  before  the  eyes  of  the  seer.  He  beheld 
a  smoking  furnace  (ver.  17);  this  was  the  flaming  Gehinom, 
Hell,  where  sinners  shall  expiate  their  iniquities.  Then  he  saw 
a  burning  lamp :  that  was  the  Law  given  on  Sinai,  and  it  passed 
between  those  pieces ;  that  is,  he  saw  Israel  go  through  the  Red 
Sea. 

Then  said  the  voice  of  God  to  the  patriarch,  “  I  have  showed 
thee  the  Temple- worship,  Law,  Bondage,  and  Hell.  I  must 
tell  thee  that  in  the  times  to  come,  through  the  sins- of  thy 
children,  the  Temple  will  be  destroyed,  and  the  Law  will  be  dis¬ 
regarded. 

Choose  now,  whether  thou  wilt  have  for  their  punishment, 
Bondage  or  Hell.” 

And  Abraham  after  long  hesitation  answered,  “I  choose 
Hell ;  ”  for  he  thought,  “  It  is  better  to  fall  into  the  hands  of 
God,  than  into  the  hands  of  men.” 

But  the  Lord  answered  and  said,  “  Not  so  ;  thou  hast  chosen 
wrongly,  for  from  Bondage  there  will  come  deliverance,  but 
from  Gehinom,  never.” 

After  that,  Abraham  returned  to  the  land  of  Charan,  and 
dwelt  there  many  years ;  and  he  instructed  the  men,  and  Sarah 
the  women,  in  the  true  religion.  And  when  his  father  Terah  was 
dead,  God  called  him  again,  and  bade  him  go  forth  to  the  land 
which  God  had  promised  him ;  and  he  went  obediently,  and 
jLot  his  brother’s  son  accompanied  him.  And  he  reached  the 
land  of  Canaan,  and  pitched  first  his  wife’s  tent,  and  then  his 
own,  on  the  plain  between  Gerizim  and  Ebal ;  and  he  erected 
three  altars  in  thanks  to  God  for  His  call,  for  His  having 
brought  him  into  the  promised  land,  and  for  having  cast  down  his 
enemies  before  him.  Then  he  went  south,  and  pitched  on  the 
spot  where  stands  Jerusalem. 

And  now  a  famine  came  upon  the  land ;  this  was  the  third 
famine  since  the  world  was  formed,  and  it  was  sent  to  prove 
Abraham.  He  murmured  not,  but  went  down  with  Sarah  his 
wife,  and  his  servants. 

When  he  reached  the  River  of  Egypt  (Wadi  el  Arisch), 
Abraham  rested  some  days.  As  Abraham  and  Sarah  walked 
together  by  the  water-side,  Abraham  saw  for  the  first  time, 
reflected  in  the  water,  the  beauty  of  Sarah  ;  for  he  was  so 
modest  that  he  had  never  lifted  his  eyes  to  her  face,  and  knew 
not  what  she  was  like,  till  he  saw  her  in  the  water.  Then,  when 
he  saw  how  beautiful  she  was,  he  persuaded  her  to  pass  as  his 


ABRAHAM. 


I<55 

sister  in  Egypt,  for  he  feared  lest  he  should  be  slain  for  her 
sake ;  but  as  a  further  precaution  he  shut  her  up  in  a  chest. 

On  the  frontier,  the  Gusto  in-house  officers  insisted  on  his 
paying  the  customs,  due  for  the  box,  and  required  that  it  should 
be  opened.  Abraham  olfered  to  pay  for  the  box  as  if  it  con¬ 
tained  gold  dust  or  gems,  if  only  they  would  not  enforce  their 
right  of  search. 

“  Does  it  contain  silk  ?  ”  asked  .the  officers. 

“I  will  pay  the  tenth,  as  of  silk,”  he  answered. 

“  Does  it  contain  silver  ?  ”  they  further  asked. 

“  I  will  pay  for  it  as  silver.” 

“  Nay,  then  it  must  contain  gold.” 

“I  will  pay  for  it  as  gold.” 

“  Maybe  it  contains  the  most  rare  and  costly  gems.” 

"  I  will  pay  for  it  as  for  gems.” 

In  the  altercation  the  chest  was  violently  broken  open,  and 
lo  !  in  it  was  seated  a  beautiful  woman,  so  beautiful  that  her 
countenance  illumined  all  Egypt ;  and  the  news  reached  the 
ears  of  Pharaoh.  All  this  occurred  in  the  night  of  the  15th  of 
the  month  Nisan. 

Abraham  and  Sarah  were  sorely  troubled,  and  prayed  to 
God  to  protect  them.  Then  the  angel  of  the  Lord  was  sent  to 
watch  over  Sarah,  and  the  angel  comforted  her  with  these  words, 
“  Fear  not ;  God  has  heard  thy  petitions  !  ” 

Pharaoh  asked  Sarah  who  that  man  was  who  accompanied 
her,  and  when  she  answered  “My  brother,”  Pharaoh  bade  him 
to  be  brought  before  him,  and  he  gave  him  rich  gifts. 

And  Pharaoh  asked  Abraham,  “  Who  is  this  wroman  ?  ”  He 
answered  “  She  is  my  sister.”  This  say  the  Mussulmans,  is 
the  third  lie  that  Abraham  told  \  but  it  was  not  a  lie,  but  a 
justifiable  falsehood. 

Pharaoh  was  filled  with  love  for  Sarah,  and  he  offered  her 
as  his  present  for  her  hand,  all  his  possessions  of  gold  and 
silvei  and  slaves,  and  the  land  of  Goshen.  And  when  he 
pressed  his  suit  upon  her  with  great  vehemence,  she  cried  to 
God  and  told  him  she  was  already  married  ;  then  he  was  smit¬ 
ten  with  paralysis,  and  great  plagues  afflicted  all  his  servants. 
But  Pharaoh  sent  for  Abraham,  and  returned  him  Sarah,  his 
wife,  and  dismissed  him  with  costly  presents,  and  he  gave  to 
Sarah  also  his  daughter,  Hagar,  to  be  her  servant. 

“  Truly,  my  daughter,  it  is  better,”  said  Pharaoh,  “  to  be 
servant  m  a  house  which  God  has  taken  under  His  protection, 
than  to  command  elsewhere.” 


1 66 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


After  a  three  months’  sojourn  in  Egypt,  Abraham  returned 
to  Canaan. 

According  to  Tabari,  Hager  loved  Sarah  greatly.  On  their 
waj'  back  to  Canaan  the  provisions  failed,  and  Abraham  went 
out  one  day  to  get  food,  with  a  sack  on  his  back  ;  but  the  day 
was  hot,  so  that  he  laid  down  and  went  to  sleep.  He  did  not 
awake  till  evening,  and  then  he  returned,  but  was  ashamed  to 
appear  with  the  sack  empty  before  his  wife,  so  he  filled  it  with 
sand.  On  reaching  the  tent  he  put  the  sack  under  his  head 
and  went  to  sleep  again.  Very  early  in  the  morning  Sarah  said 
to  Hagar,  “  What  has  Abraham  in  his  sack  ?  open  it  and  look.” 
So  Hager  untied  it,  put  in  her  hand  and  drew  out  Hour.  She 
and  Sarah  baked  cakes  of  the  flour,  and  woke  Abraham  and 
bade  him  eat.  Then,  full  of  wonder,  he  asked  where  they  had 
obtained  meal.  They  told  him,  and  he  understood  that  God 
had  wrought  a  miracle. 1 

Now  Abraham’s  flocks  and  herds,  and  those  of  Lot,  pastured 
together.  Abraham’s  cattle  were  muzzled  that  they  should 
not  feed  in  the  lands  of  the  neighbouring  people  ;  but  Lot’s 
cattle  were  not  muzzled.  And  when  Abraham’s  shepherds 
complained  of  this  to  those  of  Lot,  the  latter  answered,  “  Your 
master  is  old,  and  has  no  children  ;  soon  he  will  die,  and  then 
all  will  belong  to  our  master  Lot.” 

But  Abraham  spake  to  Lot  and  said,  “  Thy  ways  and  my 
ways  do  not  agree  :  we  must  part ;  do  thou  go  to  the  left,  and 
I  will  go  to  the  right.”  So  they  separated  ;  and  Lot  departed 
from  Abraham,  and  from  the  way  of  righteousness,  and  from 
the  living  God;  but  Abraham  camped  in  Mamre. 

3.  THE  WAR  WITH  THE  KINGS. 

After  the  failure  of  the  Tower  of  Babel,  and  the  people  had 
been  scattered  over  the  whole  earth,  Chedorlaomer,  one  of 
Nimrod’s  chief  captains,  had  left  his  service,  and  had  estab¬ 
lished  a  kingdom  of  his  own  in  Elam.  He  speedily  brought 
into  subjection  all  the  Canaanitish  peoples  that  dwelt  in  the 
fertile  valley  of  Jordan, — Sodom,  Gomorrah,  Admah,  Zebo- 
jim,  and  Zoar,  and  made  them  tributary  to  himself.  These 
cities  bore  his  yoke  for  twelve  years,  and  then  they  rebelled. 
Five  years  after  did  Nimrod,  who  is  also  called  Amraphel  iD 


1  Tabari,  i.  p  1=6, 


ABRAHAM. 


167 


the  sacred  text, 1  march  against  Chedorlaomer,  but  Nimrod  was 
defeated,  along  with  his  allies,  Arioch,  king  of  Ellasar,  and 
Tidal,  king  of  many  confederate  nations  ;  and  obliged  to  enter 
into  alliance  with  his  former  general,  Chedorlaomer,  and  agree 
to  assist  him  in  bringing  back  the  revolted  cities — Sodom, 
Gomorrah,  Admah,  Zebojim,  and  Zoar — to  their  allegiance. 

Consequently  a  huge  army  of  confederates,  under  Chedor¬ 
laomer,  Nimrod  or  Amraphel,  Arioch,  and  Tidal,  overran  the 
plain  and  valley  of  Jordon,  and  slew  all  the  giants  that  were 
there.  The  country  before  them  was  a  garden,  and  behind 
them  it  was  a  desert. 

They  resolved  also  to  defeat,  and  utterly  to  destroy  Abra¬ 
ham,  the  servant  of  the  Most  High  ;  for  Nimrod  (Amraphel) 
remembered  the  perils  to  which  his  soothsayers  had  assured 
him  he  was  exposed  so  long  as  Abraham  lived. 

The  rulers  of  the  five  cities — Bera  (Ruffian),  king  of 
Sodom  ;  Birsha  (Evil-doer),  king  of  Gomorrah ;  Shirrab 
(Covetous  one),  king  of  Admah  ;  Shemeber  (the  Strong  one), 
king  of  Zebojim;  and  the  king  (a  nameless  one)  of  Bela  (the 
engulfing  city) — went  forth  in  battle  array,  and  met  the  host 
of  Chedorlaomer  in  the  great  plain  of  Siddim,  from  whose 
canals  and  fountains  the  Salt  Sea,  or  Dead  Sea,  was  after¬ 
wards  formed ;  and  there  they  were  utterly  routed,  and  fled 
in  precipitate  haste  to  the  mountains  and  to  the  desert. 

The  king  of  Sodom  alone  escaped  unharmed  of  all  the  five 
kings,  by  a  miracle  which  God  wrought,  to  exhibit  His  power 
to  the  dwellers  in  the  plain,  who  had  begun  to  doubt  the  truth 
of  Abraham’s  deliverance  out  of  the  burning,  fiery  furnace. 

The  conquerors  took  the  spoils  of  Sodom,  and  carried 
away  Lot,  who  was  like  Abraham  in  face,  thinking  that  they 
had  taken  Abraham  captive  ;  and  they  placed  him  in  chains. 

Abraham  was,  in  prophetic  spirit,  performing  all  the  sacred 
rites,  and  preparing  the  unleavened  cakes  for  the  Paschal 
feast,  for  it  was  the  Eve  of  the  Passover,  when  the  only  giant 
who  escaped  the  overthrow  of  the  Rephaim  by  Chedorlaomer 
and  his  confederate  kings, — Og,  Avho  was  afterwards  king  of 
Basan,  and  who  had  been  saved  alive  in  the  Flood  of  Noah, — 
came  in  haste  to  announce  to  the  Patriarch  the  captivity  of  Lot. 

Now  Og  had  long  cast  his  lustful  eyes  on  Sarah,  and  he 
thought  in  his  heart,  “  This  Abraham  is  full  of  fire  and  zeal, 

1  Gen.  xiv.  19.  The  book  Jasher  also  says  that  Amraphel  and  Nim¬ 
rod  are  the  same. 


1 68 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


like  a  sportsman  ;  tliat  I  know  well.  He  will  rush  into  battle 
to  deliver  his  kinsman  Lot,  and  will  perish;  and  then  Sarah, 
his  beautiful  wife,  will  be  mine.” 

But,  according  to  another  version,  it  was  the  angel  Michael 
who  brought  the  news  to  Abraham  ;  and  to  another,  it  was  Oni, 
one  of  the  slaves  Nimrod  had  given  him,  and  who  had  been 
sent  to  observe  the  progress  of  the  war. 

No  sooner  had  Abraham  heard  the  tidings  than,  filled  with 
anxiety  on  Lot’s  behalf,  and  with  sympathy  for  the  Sodomites, 
his  neighbors,  he  called  all  his  neighbors  together,  and  all 
those  who  had  followed  him,  and  in  earnest  words  exhorted 
them  to  prepare  to  fight  and  rescue  Lot.  But  they,  knowing 
the  disparity  of  numbers,  would  make  no  promise ;  then  he 
threatened  them,  but  could  not  persuade  them  to  join  in  what 
they  regarded  as  an  infatuated  course  certain  to  lead  to  destruc¬ 
tion.  Consequently  Abraham  was  obliged  to  go  against  the 
enemy  with  only  his  own  servants.  But  as  they  neared  the 
plain,  and  saw  the  devastations  wrought  by  the  host  of  Chedor 
laomei,  they  also  slipped  away  in  the  night,  and  Abraham  was 
left  alone  with  Eliezer,  his  trusty  slave,  and  his  three  friends 
Aner,  Eshcol,  Mamre.  And  he  followed  after  the  foe,  as  they 
retired  with  their  spoil,  till  he  reached  one  of  the  fountains  of 
Jordan,  which  is  named  Paneas,  or  Dan. 

Here  his  three  friends  forsook  him,  along  with  their  wives, 
who  had  accompanied  them  thus  far. 

It  was  the  night  of  the  15th  Nisan,  the  self-same  night  in 
which  in  after-years  the  first-born  of  Egypt  would  be  slain ;  and 
Abraham’s  heart  fainted  as  he  overtook  the  mighty  host,  and 
saw  that  they  were  countless  as  the  sands  of  the  sea-shore,  and 
as  grasshoppers  for  number. 

But  lo !  God  fought  for  Abraham.  The  grass-blades  changed 
into  swords,  and  the  stubble  into  spears,  and  battled  all  that 
night ;  and  in  the  morning,  when  he  looked  upon  the  host, 
they  were  all  dead  corpses.  Thus  he  delivered  Lot  and  all 
the  captives,  men,  women,  and  children,  and  the  spoil  that 
had  been  carried  away  ;  and  none  stayed  them,  for  all  their  foes 
lay  dead  upon  the  ground. 

The  King  of  Sodom  came  forth  to  meet  Abraham,  full  of 
pride  of  heart  because  he  had  been  miraculously  delivered,  and 
attributing  all  the  glory  of  the  victory  to  Divine  interposition 
on  his  own  behalf.  But  all  the  people  knew  that  Abraham 
was  the  favored  of  God,  and  their  deliverer,  and  they  built  a 


ABRAHAM . 


169 


throne  of  the  trees  that  covered  the  plain,  and  which  had  been 
burnt  in  the  war,  and  set  Abraham  as  their  prince  and  king 
thereon  •  therefore  is  that  place  called  to  this  day,  “  The  king’s 
dale.”  1 

But  Abraham  was  little  pleased  with  this  exhibition  of 
honor,  and  he  thought  upon  what  he  had  learnt  of  old  from 
that  aged  man,  Shem,  consecrated  by  God  to  be  His  priest, 
when  he  fled  to  him  in  his  cave  from  the  tyranny  of  Nimrod. 

Shem  reigned  now  in  the  city  of  Salem,  which  was  in  later 
years  called  Jerusalem,  and  from  his  righteous  government  he 
was  named  Melchizedek  (king  of  righteousness).  And  Abra¬ 
ham  thought,  “  Will  Shem  ever  forgive  me  for  having  drawn 
the  sword  against  his  grandsons,  the  sons  of  Elam  ?” 

But  Shem  was  of  no  less  noble  and  considerate  temper 
than  Abraham  ;  and  he  mused  within  himself,  and  said,  “  What 
sort  of  opinion  can  Abraham  have  formed  of  me,  that  such 
godless  and  violent  hosts  should  have  sprung  from  my  loins, 
and  have  devastated  the  fair  plain  of  Jordan,  and  carried 
away  captive  even  his  near  kinsman  !  ” 

Then  Shem  full  of  noble  resolution  to  reconcile  himself  with 
Abraham,  rose  up  and  went  forth,  bearing  bread  and  wine  as 
tokens  of  friendship. 

The  words  of  God  flowed  from  his  mouth  ;  he  instructed 
Abraham  in  all  that  appertained  to  the  high  priest’s  office, 
which  was  in  future  times  to  belong  to  his  family ;  and  before 
he  left,  he  blessed  Abraham  with  these  words,  “  Blessed  be 
Abraham  of  the  ?nost  high  God ,  possessor  of  heaven  and  earth  ; 
and  blessed  be  the  most  high  God,  which  hath  delivered  thine 
enemies  into  thy  hand 1”  * 

But  in  so  saying,  Melchizedek  erred  grievously,  for  he 
blessed  Abraham  before  he  blessed  God,  and  the  Creator 
should  be  blessed  first,  and  the  creature  blessed  afterwards ; 
therefore  the  high  priesthood  was  taken  from  him,  and  given 
to  Aaron  in  after-times. 

Of  all  the  spoil  which  Abraham  had  taken,  he  separated  a 
tenth  part,  and  he  gave  it  to  Melchizedek,  as  the  offering  due 
to  the  priest,  and  this  was  the  first  tithe  paid  in  the  history  of 
the  world.  All  the  booty  of  Sodom  Abraham  returned  to  the 
king  thereof,  and  he  took  an  oath,  “  I  will  not  take  from  a  thread 
even  to  a  shoe-latchet,  and  I  will  not  take  any  thing  that  is  thine. 


1  Gen.  xiv  T7. 

8 


?  Ibi<i..  I 20. 


1 70 


OJJD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS 


lest  thou  should  say ,  /  have  made  Abraham  rich,  save  only  that 
which  the  young  men  have  eaten ,  and  the  portion  of  the  j?ien  which 
went  with  me,  After,  Eshcol and  Mature;  let  them  take  their 
portion.”  1 

On  account  of  this  unselfishness,  the  remembrance  of  which 
was  to  be  continued  through  all  generations,  God  gave  the 
descendants  of  Abraham  maxims  to  be  written  on  their  phy¬ 
lacteries  and  shoe-latchets ;  and  the  promise  was  made,  “  Over 
Edom  will  I  cast  out  my  shoe  ;  ”  2  that  is,  Edom,  the  most  cruel 
oppressor  of  the  chosen  people,  should  fall  under  the  condem¬ 
nation  of  the  Most  High. 

The  end  of  Nimrod  and  his  confederate  kings  is  related 
with  greater  fulness  by  the  Mussulman  historians. 

According  to  Tabari,  God  sent  an  army  of  flies  against  the 
host  of  Chedorlaomer  and  Nimrod,  and  these  flies  attacked  the 
soldiers  in  their  faces  ;  and  the  flies  were  so  numerous  that  the 
soldiers  could  not  see  one  another ;  and  the  horses  stung  by 
them  went  mad,  and  leaped,  and  fell  ;  so  that,  what  with  the 
horses  and  the  flies,  the  army  was  entirely  dispersed.  Nim¬ 
rod  escaped  to  Babylon,  but  he  was  pursued  by  the  meanest 
of  the  gnats  of  that  host ;  it  was  blind  of  one  eye  and  lame 
of  one  leg.  When  Nimrod  sat  down  on  his  throne,  the 
gnat  settled  upon  his  knee.  Then  the  tyrant  smote  at  it ;  and 
it  rose,  flew  up  one  of  his  nostrils  and  entered  his  brain,  which 
it  began  to  devour. 

Nimrod  beat  his  face  and  his  head,  and  when  he  did  so  the 
fly  ceased  gnawing  at  his  brain,  but  he  had  no  repose  from  his 
agonies  save  when  struck  upon  the  head.  Consequently  there 
was,  after  that,  always  some  one  stationed  by  him  to  strike  his 
head.  The  king  had  a  large  blacksmith’s  hammer  brought 
into  his  throne-room,  and  with  that  his  princes  and  nobles 
smote  him  on  the  head  ;  and  the  more  violent  the  blow,  the 
greater  was  the  relief  afforded.  Nimrod  reigned  a  thousand 
years  before  he  felt  the  torment  of  the  gnat ;  up  to  that  moment 
he  had  suffered  no  pains.  He  lived  for  five  hundred  years 
with  the  fly  eating  at  his  brain  ;  and  all  that  while,  night  and 
day,  there  were  relays  of  men  to  strike  his  head  with  the 
hammer.3 

Precisely  the  same  story  is  told  by  the  Jewish  Rabbis  of 

Titus.4 

1  Gen.  xiv.  23,  24.  *  Ps.  ix.  8.  *  Tabari,  i.  c.  xlviii. 

4  Gittin.  fol,  56  b;  Plrke  of  R.  Eliezer.  fol.  49. 


ABRAHAM. 


171 


There  is,  however,  another  version  of  the  tradition  ;  which 
is,  that  the  gnat  fattening  on  the  brain  grew  in  size  till  it 
swelled  to  the  dimensions  of  a  pigeon,  and  then  the  skull  of 
Nimrod  burst,  and  the  gnat  flew  away  ;  and  this  was  fifteen 
days  after  it  had  entered  by  his  nose.1 

More  shall  be  told  of  Melchizedek  in  a  separate  article. 


4.  THE  BIRTH  OF  ISHMAEL. 

Ten  years  passed,  and  yet  Sarah  was  barren.  Abraham, 
in  sore  distress,  prayed  to  God,  and  reminded  Him  of  His 
promises.  Sarah  then  said  to  Abraham,  “  God  has  refused 
me  children,  therefore  take  Hagar  to  wife,  the  daughter  of 
Pharaoh,  who  was  given  to  be  my  servant ;  I  give  her  thee  in 
all  good-will,  that  my  reproach  may  be  taken  away,  and  to  her 
I  give  her  freedom.” 

Abraham  consented  ;  but  Hagar,  who  had  been  virtuously 
brought  up  by  Sarah,  objected  modestly,  till  Sarah  pointed 
out  to  her  how  great  an  honor  it  would  be  to  be  the  concubine 
of  such  a  holy  man. 

But  no  sooner  was  Hagar  installed  as  second  wife,  and 
felt  in  herself  that  she  was  about  to  become  a  mother,  than  her 
character  changed  ;  she  assumed  the  pre-eminence,  and  cast 
bitter  words  in  the  teeth  of  her  mistress.  “What,”  said  she, 
“  can  Sarah  be  so  holy  and  beloved  of  God,  and  He  has  nev¬ 
er  given  her  her  heart’s  desire  ?  ” 

Sarah  was  stung  to  the  quick  by  these  words  of  her  former 
slave.  She  turned  to  her  husband  and  said,  “  I  demand  of 
thee  my  rights.  For  thee  I  forsook  my  father’s  house,  and 
followed  thee  into  a  strange  land  ;  for  thee  I  passed  myself  off 
in  Egypt  as  thy  sister.  And  now  what  hast  thou  done  ?  Thou 
hast  suffered  my  slave  to  assume  the  chief  place  in  the  house, 
and  to  take  upon  herself  airs,  and  thou  holdest  thy  peace. 
Depend  upon  it,  if  she  bear  thee  a  son  there  will  be  no  peace 
in  the  house,  for  she  is  a  daughter  of  Pharaoh,  who  is  of  the 
race  of  Nimrod,  who  cast  thee  into  the  furnace  of  fire.” 

“Hagar  is  in  thy  power,”  answered  Abraham;  “but  do 
her  no  harm.  After  thou  gavest  her  her  freedom,  she  may  not 
again  be  brought  into  bondage.” 

But  Sarah  paid  no  attention  to  these  worcfs  of  gentleness, 

1  Weil,  p  so 


172 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


and  treated  Hagar  with  such  cruelty,  beat  her,  and  cast  an 
evil  eye  on  her,  so  that  she  was  delivered  before  her  time  of  a 
dead  child,  and  she  fled  for  her  life  from  the  house. 

The  All-Righteous,  for  this  offence,  shortened  Sarah’s 
life,  and  made  her  die  thirty-eight  years  before  her  husband. 

Angels  appeared  to  Hagar  in  the  desert  by  the  well  of  wa¬ 
ter  whither  she  had  fled,  and  bade  her  return  to  Abraham. 
So  she  went  back,  and  was  again  pregnant,  and  bore  a  son, 
and  called  his  name  Ishmael. 

5.  THE  DESTP  UCTION  OF  SODOM  AND  GOMORRAH. 

At  noon  on  the  r  5th  Nisan,  the  third  day  after  the  circum 
cision  of  Abraham,  as  recorded  in  the  Book  of  Genesis,  the 
heat  of  the  sun  was  so  great  that  Gehinom  (Hell)  was  pene¬ 
trated  by  it.  And  Abraham  had  not  recovered  the  adminis¬ 
tration  of  the  rite,  which  had  been  performed  by  the  hands  of 
Shem,  king  of  Salem,  priest  of  the  Most  High  God. 

Abraham  was  wont  every  day  to  go  forth  and  invite  any 
travellers  he  might  see  to  feast  with  him.  But  this  day,  owing 
to  the  heat  and  to  his  being  in  pain,  he  sent  Eliezer,  his  ser¬ 
vant,  forth,  who  looked  and  returned  and  said  that  there  was 
no  one  to  be  seen. 

But  Abraham  thought,  “  Can  I  trust  the  words  of  this  slave, 
and  neglect  for  one  day  the  performance  of  my  accustomed 
hospitality  ?  ” 

Then,  notwithstanding  the  heat  and  his  suffering,  he  went 
and  sat  in  the  shade  of  the  door,  and  he  beheld  in  the  plain  of 
Mamre  the  glory  of  the  Lord  that  appeared.  Abraham  would 
have  risen,  but  the  voice  of  God  called  to  him,  saying,  “  Re¬ 
main  where  thou  art,  and  let  thy  pious,  sitting  posture  teach 
future  generations  in  their  prayer  and  instruction  to  be  seated 
and  let  judges,  in  delivering  judgment,  occupy  the  same  posi 
tion.” 

Then  AVaham  lifted  his  eyes,  and  beheld  three  men,  whc 
seemed  to  approach  and  then  to  withdraw.  These  were  the 
angels  Michael,  Raphael,  and  Gabriel,  sent  to  him  with  mes 
sages,  whereof  each  bore  one.  They  now  stood  before  Abra 
ham’s  tent,  and  they  came  to  satisfy  his  desire  to  show  hospi¬ 
tality:  but  when  they  observed  the  predicament  in  which  he 
was,  they  attempted  to  withdraw,  but  Abraham  supposed  them 
to  be  travellers  of  the  three  neighboring  races  of  Saracens 


ABRAHAM. 


*73 


Nabathasans,  and  Arabians ;  and  as  two  of  the  angels  were 
smaller  of  stature  than  the  third,  who  stood  in  the  middle — this 
was  Michael — Abraham  supposed  him  to  be  their  chief ;  and 
he  rose  and  bowed  himself  before  him,  and  said  to  the  Majes¬ 
ty  of  God  which  still  shone,  “  If  I  have  found  favor  in  Thy 
sight,  O  Lord,  may  Thy  majesty  not  depart  from  me  whilst  I 
receive  hospitably  these  wanderers.”  And  the  Lord  granted 
his  request. 

Then  said  Abraham  to  the  men,  “ Let  a  little  water,  I  pray 
you ,  be  fetched ’  and  wash  your  feet,  and  rest  yourselves  under  the 
tree ;  and  I  will  fetch  a  morsel  of  bread,  and  co?nfort  ye  your 
hearts  ;  after  that  ye  shall  pass  on  :  for  therefore  are  ye  come  to 
your  servant.” 

Now  the  reason  why  he  said  “  Let  a  little  water  be  fetched 
and  wash  your  feet,”  was,  that  he  supposed  the  men  were  idol¬ 
aters,  and  he  would  not  have  the  dust  from  the  feet  of  idolaters 
to  pollute  the  floor  of  his  tent. 

And  they  said,  “  Do  so.” 

Then  Abraham  hastened  into  the  tent  to  Sarah,  and  said, 
“  Make  ready  quickly  three  measures  of  fine  meal,  knead  it,  and 
make  cakes  upo?i  the  hearth.  ”  And  Abraham  ran  unto  the  herd, 
and  fetched  a  calf  which  he  had  dressed,  and  set  it  before  them  ; 
and  he  stood  by  them  under  the  tree,  and  they  did  eat. 

Abraham  placed  butter  and  milk  on  the  table  first,  then 
calves’  tongues,  then  the  other  dishes,  and  lastly  Sarah’s  cakes ; 
but  some  commentators  doubt  w'hether  the  men  ate  the  cakes. 
It  is  asserted  by  some  that  the  angels  only  appeared  to  eat, 
but  by  others  we  are  assured  that  to  reward  Abraham’s  hos¬ 
pitality  they  really  did  eat,  and  this  wTas  the  only  occasion  on 
which  angels  tasted  the  food  of  earth. 

The  angels,  knowing  that  Sarah  was  within  the  tent,  asked 
after  her.  And  this  betokens  her  great  modesty,  that  she  did 
not  thrust  herself  forward  to  be  seen  of  strange  visitors.  Abra¬ 
ham  replied  that  she  was  within,  engaged  in  women’s  household 
work.  Then  said  Michael,  the  chief  of  the  angels,  “  Truly  shall 
such  pious  and  seemly  habits  not  pass  unrewarded  ;  but  Sarah 
shall  bloom  again  as  fair  as  in  her  youth,  and  shall  bear  a  son 
in  her  old  age.” 

Sarah  heard  these  words  at  the  entrance  of  the  tent ;  so 
did  Ishmael,  who  stood  near.  Sarah  stepped  behind  the  angel, 
but  the  beauty  of  her  countenance  shone  before  her,  and  the 
angel  turned  to  look  at  her,  and  then  he  saw  she  was  laughing 


r74 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


to  herself,  and  saying,  “  I  am  good-looking,  and  smart  dresses 
become  me  ;  1  could  perfectly  well  produce  a  son,  but  then  my 
husband  is  old.” 

Then  the  word  of  God  came  to  Abraham,  and  said, 
*  Wherefore  did  Sarah  laugh  ?  Am  I,  the  all-powerful  God, 
too  old  to  create  miracles  ?  At  the  appointed  tune  Sarah  shall 
have  a  son.”  To  Sarah,  who,  out  of  fear,  denied  having  laugh¬ 
ed,  the  word  came,  “  Fear  not,  but  thou  didst  laugh.” 

Then  Michael  withdrew,  for  his  mission  was  accomplished ; 
and  left  the  other  two,  Gabriel  and  Raphael,  with  Abraham. 
Then  God  revealed  to  Abraham,  by  Gabriel,  that  He  was  about 
to  destroy  the  cities  of  the  plain  ;  and  by  Raphael,  that  He 
would  deliver  Lot  and  his  family  in  the  overthrow. 

These  cities  were  very  guilty  before  God.  Eliezer,  having 
been  sent  by  Sarah  to  her  brother  Lot  with  a  message,  some 
years  before,  arrived  in  Sodom.  An  acquaintance  invited  him 
to  a  meal.  But  hospitality  was  a  virtue  abhorred  in  Sodom, 
and  the  news  of  the  invitation  having  got  wind,  Eliezer’s  friend 
was  driven  out  of  the  city.  Now  it  was  a  custom  in  Sodom  to 
make  every  stranger  arriving  within  the  walls  rest  in  a  certain 
bed  ;  and  if  the  bed  proved  too  long  for  him,  his  legs  were  pull¬ 
ed  out  to  fit  it ;  and  if  it  proved  too  short,  his  legs  were  pared 
down  to  its  dimensions.  Eliezer  saw  with  horror  what  u  was 
that  they  purposed  to  do  with  him,  andihe  had  recourse  to  a 
lie  of  necessity;  he  declined  to  sleep  in  the  bed,  because  he 
had  taken  an  oath  upon  the  death  of  his  mother  never  to  lie 
on  a  bed  again ;  and  thus  he  escaped.  Shortly  after,  having 
seen  a  Sodomite  rob  a  poor  stranger  of  his  garment,  Eliezer 
attempted  to  interfere,  but  the  robber  struck  him  over  the  head 
and  made  a  gash,  from  which  he  lost  much  blood.  Both  being 
brought  before  the  judge,  this  was  the  magistrate’s  decision  : — 
That  Eliezer  was  indebted  to  the  Sodomite  robber  for  having 
bled  him.  The  servant  of  Abraham  thereupon  took  up  a  large 
stone,  flung  it  at  the  judge’s  head,  which  he  cut  open,  and  said, 
“  Now,  pay  me  for  having  bled  thee  !  ”  and  then  he  fled  out  of 
the  city. 

From  these  incidents  it  may  be  seen  how  wicked  the  city  was. 

Now  Abraham  had  interceded  with  God  to  spare  the  cities 
of  the  plain,  for  the  intercession  of  His  saints  is  mighty  with 
God.  And  Abraham  had  obtained  of  God  that  if  in  Zoar, 
the  smallest  of  the  cities,  five  righteous  could  be  found,  and 
foity-five  in  all  the  rest  of  the  country,  God  would  spate  them. 


ABRAHAM. 


*75 


Then  God  ceased  talking  with  Abraham.  Next  morning  ear¬ 
ly,  Abraham  arose  and  took  his  staff,  and  went  to  the  place 
where  God  had  met  him,  to  make  further  intercession  for  the 
cities  of  the  plain,  but  the  smoke  of  them  rose  as  from  a  fur¬ 
nace,  for  brimstone  and  fire  had  been  rained  upon  them  out 
of  heaven,  and  they  had  been  consumed  along  with  their  in¬ 
habitants.  Only  Zoar  was  spared,  as  a  place  of  refuge  for  Lot, 
and  Lot  was  kept  alive  and  his  daughters  ;  for  God  remem¬ 
bered  how  he  had  been  true  to  Abraham  in  Egypt  and  had  not 
betrayed  the  truth  about  Sarah  when  questioned  by  Pharaoh. 

The  Mussulman  tradition  is  as  follows  : — 

Lot,  whom  the  Arabs  called  Loth,  was  sent  by  God  as  a 
prophet  to  convince  the  inhabitants  of  the  cities  of  the  plain 
of  their  ungodly  deeds.  But,  though  he  preached  for  twenty 
years,  he  could  not  convince  them.  And  whenever  he  visited 
Abraham  he  complained  to  him  of  the  iniquity  of  the  people, 
But  Abraham  urged  him  to  patience. 

At  length  the  long-suffering  of  God  was  exhausted,  and 
He  sent  the  angels  Michael,  Gabriel,  and  Azrael,  armed  with 
the  sword  of  destruction,  against  these  cities. 

They  came  to  Abraham,  who  received  them,  and  slaughter¬ 
ed  a  calf,  and  prepared  meat  and  set  it  before  them.  But  they 
would  not  eat.  And  he  pressed  them,  and  ate  himself  ;  but 
they  would  not  eat,  being  angels.  Then  Abraham’s  color  went 
and  he  was  afraid,  for  to  refuse  to  eat  with  a  man  is  a  token 
that  you  seek  his  life. 

Seeing  him  discouraged,  the  angels  announced  their  mis¬ 
sion.  But  Sarah,  observing  her  husband’s  loss  of  color, 
laughed,  and  said  in  her  heart,  “  Why  is  he  fearful,  being 
surrounded  with  many  servants  and  faithful  friends  ?” 

Now  the  angels  promised  to  Abraham  a  son  in  his  old  age, 
and  that  they  would  rescue  Lot  in  the  overthrow  of  Sodom. 
Then  they  rose  up  and  went  on  their  way,  and  entered  into 
Sodom  ;  and  they  met  a  young  maiden  in  the  street,  and 
asked  her  the  way  to  Lot’s  house. 

She  answered,  “  He  is  my  father,  and  I  dwell  with  him ; 
but  know  you  not,  O  strangers,  that  it  is  against  the  laws  of 
this  city  to  show  hospitality  ?  ” 

But  they  answered  her,  “  Fear  not ;  lead  us  to  thy  father.” 

So  she  led  them,  and  ran  before  and  told  Lot,  “  Behold 
three  men  come  seeking  thee  and  asking  shelter,  and  they 
are  beautiful  as  the  angels  of  God.” 


176 


OLD  TESTA  MEAT  CHARACTERS. 


Then  Lot  went  out  to  them,  and  told  them  the  city  was  full 
of  wickedness,  and  that  hospitality  was  not  permitted. 

But  they  answered,  “  We  must  tarry  this  night  in  thy  house.” 
Then  he  admitted  them,  and  he  hid  them.  But  Lot’s  wife  was 
an  infidel,  a  native  of  Sodom  ;  and  finding  that  he  lodged  these 
strangers,  she  hastened  to  the  chief  men  of  the  city  and  said, 
“  My  husband  has  violated  your  laws,  and  the  customs  of  this 
people  ;  he  has  housed  travellers,  and  will  feed  them  and  show 
them  all  courtesy.” 

Therefore  the  men  of  the  city  came  tumultuously  to  the 
door  of  Lot’s  house,  to  bring  forth  the  men  that  were  come  to 
him,  and  to  cast  them  out  of  the  city,  having  shamefully  en¬ 
treated  them.  They  would  not  listen  to  the  remonstrances  of 
Lot,  but  went  near  to  break  in  his  door. 

Then  the  three  angels  stepped  forth  and  passed  their  hands 
over  the  faces  of  all  who  drew  near,  and  they  were  struck  blind, 
and  fled  from  their  presence. 

Now,  long  before  the  day  began  to  break,  the  angels  rose 
up  and  called  Lot,  his  wife  and  daughters,  and  bade  them  take 
their  clothes  and  all  that  they  had  that  was  most  precious,  and 
escape  out  of  the  city.  Therefore  Lot  and  his  family  went 
forth. 

And  when  they  were  escaped,  the  angel  Gabriel  went 
through  the  cities,  and  passed  his  wing  over  the  soil  on  which 
they  were  built,  and  the  cities  were  carried  up  into  heaven  , 
and  they  came  so  near  thereto  that  those  on  the  confines  of 
heaven  could  hear  the  crowing  of  the  cocks  in  Sodom,  and  the 
barking  of  the  dogs  in  Gomorrah.  And  then  they  were  over¬ 
thrown,  so  that  their  foundations  were  towards  the  sky  and  their 
roofs  towards  the  earth.  And  God  rained  on  them  stones  heated 
in  the  fire  of  hell ;  and  on  each  stone  was  written  the  name  of 
him  whom  it  was  destined  to  slay.  Now  there  were  many  na¬ 
tives  of  these  accursed  cities  in  other  parts  of  the  land,  and 
where  they  were,  there  they  were  sought  out  by  the  red-hot 
stones,  and  were  struck  down.  But  some  were  within  the  sa¬ 
cred  enclosure  of  the  temple  at  Mecca,  and  the  stones  waited 
for  them  in  the  air ;  and  at  the  expiration  of  forty  days  they 
came  forth,  and  as  they  came  forth  the  stones  whistled  through 
the  air,  and  smote  them,  and  they  were  slain. 

Now  Lot’s  wife  turned,  as  she  went  forth,  to  look  back  upon 
the  city,  and  a  stone  fell  on  her,  and  she  died.1 

1  Tabari,  i.  c.  lii  4bulfeda,  p.  25. 


ABRAHAM. 


177 


It  is  related  further  of  Lot  that,  after  he  had  escaped,  he 
committed  in  ignorance  a  very  great  sin;  and  Abraham  sent 
him  to  expiate  his  crime  to  the  sources  of  the  Nile,  to  fetch 
thence  three  sorts  of  wood,  which  he  named  to  him.  Abraham 
thought,  “  He  will  be  slain  by  ravenous  beasts,  and  so  will  he 
atone  for  the  sin  that  he  has  committed.” 

But  Lot  after  a  while  returned,  bringing  with  him  the  woods 
which  Abraham  had  demanded — a  cypress  plant,  a  young  cedar, 
and  a  young  pine. 

Abraham  planted  the  three  trees  in  the  shape  of  a  triangle, 
on  a  mountain,  and  charged  Lot  with  watering  them  every  day 
from  Jordan.  Now  the  mountain  was  twenty-four  thousand 
paces  from  Jordan,  and  this  penance  was  laid  on  Lot  to  expi¬ 
ate  his  sin. 

At  the  end  of  three  months  the  trees  blossomed  ;  Lot  an¬ 
nounced  this  to  Abraham,  who  visited  the  spot,  and  saw  to  his 
surprise  that  the  three  trees  had  grown  together  to  form  one 
trunk,  but  with  three  distinct  roots  of  different  natures. 

At  the  sight  of  this  miracle  he  bowed  his  face  to  the  ground 
and  said,  “  This  tree  will  abolish  sin.” 

And  by  that  he  knew  that  God  had  pardoned  Lot. 

The  tree  grew  and  subsisted  till  the  reign  of  Solomon,  when 
it  was  cut  down,  and  this  was  the  tree  which  the  Jews  employ¬ 
ed  to  form  the  Cross  of  Christ.1 

This  tradition  is,  of  course,  Christian  ;  though  Jewish  in 
origin,  it  has  been  adapted  to  the  Gospel  story. 

6.  THE  BIRTH  OF  ISAAC. 

The  country  was  wasted ;  travellers  were  few ;  those  who 
passed  by,  and  accepted  Abraham’s  hospitality,  spoke  with 
scorn  of  the  sin  of  Lot,  his  nephew;  and  the  neighborhood  be¬ 
came  intolerable  to  the  patriarch,  who  resolved  to  change  his 
place  of  residence  for  a  while. 

He  therefore  went  south,  between  Kadesh  and  Sur,  and 
dwelt  in  Gerar. 

Now  Sarah  had  bloomed  again  as  fair  as  in  her  youth  as 
the  angel  Michael  had  foretold  ;  and  Abraham  persuaded  ner 
to  pretend  again  to  be  his  sister,  though  Sarah,  remembering 
the  ill- success  of  this  deceit  before,  hesitated  to  comply. 

Apocrypha  de  Loto,  apud  Fabricium,  t.  i.  pp.  428-431. 


1 


i78 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


Abimelech,  king  of  Gerar,  hearing  of  Sarah’s  beauty,  sent 
for  her  to  his  palace.  He  asked  Abraham,  “  Who  is  this 
woman?”  and  he .  answered,  “She  is  my  sister.”  Then 
Abimelech  inquired  of  the  camels  and  of  the  asses,  and  they 
answered  the  same,  “  She  is  his  sister.”  But  that  same  even¬ 
ing,  as  it  grew  towards  dusk,  as  he  sat  on  his  throne,  he  fell 
asleep  ;  and  in  dream  saw  an  angel  of  God  approach  him  with 
a  drawn  sword  in  his  hand  to  slay  him.  The  king  in  his  dream 
cried  out  to  know  why  he  was  doomed  to  death ;  and  the  angel 
answered,  “  Because  thou  hast  received  into  thy  house  the  wife 
of  another  man,  the  mistress  of  a  house.” 

Abimelech  excused  himself,  saying  that  Abraham  had  con¬ 
cealed  the  truth  from  him,  and  had  said  Sarah  was  his  sister. 

“The  All-Holy  knows  that  thou  hast  sinned  in  ignorance,” 
said  the  angel ;  “  but  is  it  seemly,  when  strangers  enter  thy 
land,  to  be  questioning  closely  into  their  connections  ?  Know 
that  Abraham  is  a  prophet,  and  foreseeing  that  thy  people  would 
entreat  his  wife  ill,  he  resolved  to  call  her  his  sister,  and  he 
knew,  being  a  prophet,  that  thou  couldst  not  harm  her.”  1 

That  night — it  was  the  Paschal  eve — the  angel  with  the 
drawn  sword  traversed  all  the  streets  of  the  city,  and  closed  the 
wombs  of  those  about  to  bear. 

Next  morning  early,  while  it  was  yet  dark,  Abimelech  sent 
for  Abraham  and  Sarah,  and  gave  Sarah  back  to  her  husband, 
and  paid  him  a  thousand  ounces  of  silver,  and  to  Sarah  he  gave 
a  costly  robe,  which  might  conceal  her  from  her  eyes  to  her 
feet,  that  none  might  henceforth  be  bewitched  by  her  beauty. 
“  But,”  said  Abimelech  to  Abraham,  “  because  thou  didst  de¬ 
ceive  me  and  blind  my  eyes  with  a  lie,  therefore  thou  shalt  bear 
a  son,  whose  eyes  shall  be  dim  so  that  he  shall  be  deceived.” 
And  Abraham  prayed  to  the  Lord,  and  all  the  woman  that 
were  with  child  in  Gerar  were  delivered  of  men-children,  with¬ 
out  the  pangs  of  maternity,  and  those  who  were  barren  felt  them¬ 
selves  with  child.  The  angel  hosts  besought  the  Lord  to  look 
upon  Sarah,  and  to  remember  His  covenant.  “  O  Lord  of  the 
whole  world  !  Thou  didst  hear  the  cry  of  Abraham,  and  grant 
his  petitions  when  he  prayed  for  the  barren  women  of  Gerar ; 
and  his  own  wife,  from  whom  Thou  didst  promise  him  a  son, 
is  unfruitful  and  despised.  Does  it  beseem  a  Lord,  when  he 
prepares  a  fleet,  to  free  his  subjects  from  pirates,  but  to  leave 
the  vessel  of  his  best  friend  in  bondage?” 

’  Solomon  Jarschi,  Comm,  on  Moses,  xx.  5. 


ABRAHAM. 


179 


Now  it  was  the  first  day  of  the  seventh  month,  Tischri,  the 
day  on  which,  at  the  close  of  the  world’s  history,  the  Lord  will 
come  to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead,  that  the  Lord  God  re¬ 
membered  Sarah,  and  the  promise  He  had  made,  and  looked 
upon  her,  and  she  conceived  a  son  in  her  old  age,  one  year'and 
four  months  after  her  sojourn  in  Gerar ;  and  nine  months  after, 
say  some,  but,  say  others,  six  months  and  two  days  after ;  at 
mid-day  say  some,  others  say  in  the  evening  of  the  fifteenth  of 
Nisan ;  or,  as  others  affirm,  on  the  first  of  Nisan  she  was  de¬ 
livered  of  a  son,  without  suffering  any  pains  in  the  bringing 
forth.  And  the  same  time  that  Sarah’s  womb  was  blessed,  God 
looked  upon  many  other  barren  women  and  blessed  them  also  ; 
and  on  the  day  that  the  child  was  born  they  were  delivered 
likewise  ;  and  the  blind  saw,  the  dumb  spake,  the  deaf  heard, 
and  the  lame  walked,  and  the  crazed  recovered  their  senses. 
Also,  the  sun  shone  forty-eight  times  brighter  than  he  shines 
at  Midsummer,  even  with  the  splendor  that  he  had  on  the  day 
of  his  creation. 

And  when  eight  days  were  accomplished,  Abraham  circum¬ 
cised  his  son,  and  called  him  Isaac. 

But  many  thought  it  was  an  incredible  thing  that  Abraham 
and  Sarah  should  have  a  son  in  their  old  age,  and  they  said, 
“This  is  a  foundling,  or  it  is  the  child  of  one  of  the  slaves, 
which  they  pass  off  as  their  own.”  Now  Abraham  held  a  great 
feast  on  the  day  that  Isaac  was  weaned,  and  he  invited  thereto 
all  the  princes  and  great  men  of  the  country.  And  there  came 
Abimelech,  king  of  Gerar,  and  Og,  king  of  Basan,  and  all  the 
princes  of  Canaan,  sixty-two  princes  in  all.  Such  an  assembly 
was  not  seen  before,  yet  all  these  princes  fell  in  after-years  by 
the  hands  of  Joshua.1 

Of  this  feast  it  is  related  that  Og’s  companions  said  to  him, 
“  Do  you  believe  that  that  old  mule,  Abraham,  can  be  the  fa¬ 
ther  of  this  child  ?  ” 

Og  replied  with  scorn,  M I  could  crack  this  imp  with  the 
nail  of  my  little  finger.” 

Then  came  there  a  voice  from  heaven,  saying,  “Thou  de- 
spisest  this  little  child,  but  know  thou  that  tens  of  thousands 
shall  spring  from  his  loins,  and  that  before  them  thy  pride  shall 
be  humbled.” 

Also,  Abraham’s  ancestors,  Shem  and  Eber,  and  his  father, 

1  Jo«h.  xii.  24. 


r8o  OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 

Terah — though  some  say  he  was  dead — and  Nahor,  Abraham’s 
brother,  attended  the  feast,  and  the  Shekinah,  the  glory  of  the 
Lord,  appeared  to  grace  it. 

But  Satan  also  appeared  in  the  form  of  a  poor  beggar-man, 
and  he  stood  at  the  door  and  asked  an  alms.  Now  Abraham 
and  Sarah  were  bus)  attending  to  their  guests,  so  they  per¬ 
ceived  him  not,  but  the  servants  thrust  him  away,  and  Satan 
received  nothing ;  therefore  he  presented  himself  before  the 
Most  High,  and  laid  an  accusation  of  inhospitality  and  churl¬ 
ishness  against  the  Friend  of  God. 

In  the  mean  time  Sarah  had  assembled,  and  was  entertain¬ 
ing  all  the  wives  of  the  guests  of  Abraham.  And  it  happened 
that  the  women  found  that  they  had  no  milk  in  their  bosoms 
to  give  their  infants,  and  the  babes  screamed  that  no  one  could 
hear  the  voice  of  another.  The  mothers  were  in  despair,  for 
the  children  were  hungry,  and  they  were  all  dry.  Then  Sarah 
uncovered  her  breasts,  and  there  spirted  from  them  jets  of  milk, 
and  all  the  babes  were  nourished  at  her  bosom,  and  yet  there 
was  more. 

Now  when  they  saw  this,  the  women,  who  had  doubted  that 
the  child  was  really  the  offspring  of  Sarah,  doubted  no  more, 
and  cried,  “  We  are  not  worthy  that  our  little  ones  should  be 
nourished  at  thy  bosom  !  ”  And  the  story  goes  that  all  those 
who  afterwards  joined  themselves  to  the  people  of  Israel,  and 
all  those  in  every  nation  who  in  after-times  became  proselytes, 
were  descended  from  those  who  sucked  the  breasts  of  Sarah. 
In  allusion  to  this  incident  it  is  said  in  the  Book  of  Psalms : 
“  Thou  makes t  the  barren  wo?nan  to  keep  house ,  and  to  be  the  joy¬ 
ful  mother  of  (i.  e.,  giving  suck  to)  children .”  1 

The  child  Isaac  was  shown  to  every  visitor,  and  all  were 
astonished  at  his  resemblance  to  Abraham.  Both  the  babe 
and  his  father  were  so  much  alike  that  it  was  impossible  to 
distinguish  one  from  the  other,  and  all  doubt  as  to  whose  it 
was  vanished  before  such  evidence  of  likeness  to  the  father, 
and  before  the  fulness  of  Sarah’s  breasts.  But  as  confusion 
was  likely  to  arise  through  the  striking  similarity  between  fa¬ 
ther  and  son,  Abraham  besought  God  to  give  him  wrinkles  and 
white  hair,  that  he  might  not  be  mistaken  for  the  babe  Isaac, 
or  the  babe  Isaac  be  mistaken  for  him.2 

1  Psalm  cxiii.  9. 

*  This  climax  of  absurdity  is  found  also  in  the  Mussulman  histones  of 
the  Patriarch. 


ABRAHAM . 


1S1 


7.  THE  EXPULSION  OF  HAGAR  AND  ISHMAEL. 

Ishmael  grew  up,  and  became  skilful  with  his  bow  ;  he  was 
rough  and  undisciplined,  and  he  occasionally  lapsed  into  idol¬ 
atry,  but  without  his  father  knowing  it.  But  Sarah  was  aware 
of  his  sin,  and  was  grieved  thereat. 

Ishmael  often  boasted,  “I  am  the  eldest  son,  and  I  shall 
have  a  double  portion  of  my  father’s  inheritance.”  These 
words  were  reported  to  Sarah,  and  she  hated  Ishmael  for  them 
in  her  heart. 

One  day  when  Isaac  was  five  years  old,  but  others  say 
fifteen,  Ishmael  said  to  him,  “  Come  forth  into  the  field  and 
let  us  shoot.”  Isaac  was  well  pleased.  And  when  they  were 
in  the  field,  Ishmael  turned  his  bow  against  his  brother,  but 
he  did  it  in  jest.  Sarah  saw  him  from  the  tent  door,  and  she 
ran  out,  and  caught  away  her  son  Isaac,  and  she  went  to 
Abraham  and  told  him  all  the  evil  she  knew  of  Ishmael ;  how 
he  had  gone  after  idols  and  had  learnt  the  ways  of  the  Canaan- 
ites  that  were  in  the  land,  how  he  had  boasted  of  his  majority 
and  how  he  had  sought  Isaac’s  life.  And  she  said,  “  Give  the 
maid-servant  a  writing  of  divorcement,  and  send  her  away. 
Cast  out  this  bond-woman  and  her  son  ;  for  the  son  of  this  bond- 
woman  shall  not  be  heir  with  my  son ,  even  with  Isaac.  Then 
she  will  no  more  vex  Isaac.  Do  thou  leave  to  Isaac  all  thy 
possessions.  Never  shall  Ishmael  inherit  any  thing  from  thee, 
for  he  is  not  my  son.” 

Abraham  was  grieved  at  heart,  for  he  loved  Ishmael  his 
son,  but  nothing  that  he  said  could  alter  Sarah’s  determination. 
She  insisted  on  the  expulsion  of  Hagar  and  her  son,  and 
she  stirred  up  the  wrath  of  Abraham  against  Ishmael,  because 
he  had  fallen  into  idolatry. 

Sarah,  say  the  Mussulmans,  was  so  fierce  in  her  jealdusy, 
that  she  would  not  be  satisfied  till  she  had  washed  her  hands 
in  the  blood  of  Hagar.  Then  Abraham  quickly  pierced 
Hagar’s  ears,  and  drew  a  rug  through  them,  so  that  Sarah 
could  fulfil  her  oath,  without  endangering  the  life  of  Hagar.1 

It  was  long  before  Abraham  could  be  brought  to  consent 
to  Sarah’s  desire,  but  God  appeared  to  him  in  a  dream  and 
said,  “  Fear  not  to  obey  the  voice  of  Sarah,  for  she  is  the  wife 
of  thy  youth,  and  was  chosen  for  thee  from  her  mother’s  womb. 
But  Hagar  is  not  thy  wife  ;  she  is  but  a  bond-woman.  Sarah 

1  Weil.  p.  83. 


182 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS \ 


also  is  a  prophetess,  and  sees  into  things  that  shall  be  in  the 
latter  days,  further  than  thou.  Unto  Isaac  and  those  of  his 
seed  who  believe  in  the  Two  Worlds  are  the  promises  made ; 
and  they  alone  shall  be  accounted  as  thy  seed/’ 1 

Abraham  now  did  what  he  was  commanded.  Next  morning 
he  gave  Hagar  a  writing  of  dismissal,  and  took  twelve  loaves 
of  bread  and  a  pitcher  of  water,  and  laid  them  upon  Hagar,  for 
Sarah  had  cast  an  evil  eye  upon  Ishmael,  so  that  he  was  ill, 
and  unable  to  carry  any  burden.  And  Abraham  attached  the 
pitcher  by  a  cord  to  the  hips  of  Hagar,  that  all  might  know 
she  was  a  slave,  and  the  pitcher  hung  down  and  trailed  on  the 
sand.  Ishmael  was  sent  away  without  garments  ;  he  went 
forth  naked  as  he  came  into  the  world :  thus  it  may  be  seen 
how  implacable  was  the  anger  of  Sarah,  because  he  had 
boasted  of  his  birthright,  and  the  wrath  of  Abraham,  because 
he  had  fallen  into  idolatry. 

But  when  they  went  along  their  way,  Abraham  looked  after 
them  for  long,  standing  in  the  door  of  his  tent,  for  his  bowels 
yearned  after  his  son,  and  he  saw  the  trail  in  the  sand  of  the 
water  pitcher  which  Hagar  had  dragged  sadly  along,  and 
thereby  Abraham  knew  the  direction  which  they  had  taken. 

Now  God  forsook  not  the  outcast  in  her  affliction,  but  filled 
the  pitcher  with  water  as  fast  as  she  and  her  son  drank  out  of 
it,  and  the  water  was  always  sweet  and  cold.  Thus  they  pen¬ 
etrated  the  wilderness,  and  there  they  lost  their  way,  and  Ha¬ 
gar  forgot  the  God  of  Abraham,  and  in  her  distress  turned  to 
the  false  gods  of  her  father  Pharaoh,  and  besought  their  pro¬ 
tection,  for  she  said,  “  Where  are  the  promises  of  the  God  of 
Abraham,  that  of  Ishmael  would  He  make  a  great  nation  ?  ” 

Now  Ishmael  was  sick  of  a  burning  fever,  and  the  water 
in  the  pitcher  failed  when  Hagar  forsook  the  God  of  Abraham. 
So  she  cast  him  under  a  thorn  bush,  and  went  from  him  the 
space  of  two  thousand  ells,  that  she  might  not  hear  his  cries. 
But  Ishmael  prayed  to  the  Lord  God  of  Heaven  and  Earth, 
and  said,  “  O  Lord  God  of  my  father  Abraham  !  thou  canst 
send  death  in  so  many  forms  ;  take  my  life  speedily  or  give 
me  a  drop  of  water,  that  I  suffer  this  agony  no  longer.” 

And  the  Lord  in  Llis  compassion  heard  the  prayer  of  the 
weeping  child,  and  He  sent  His  angel  and  showed  Hagar  that 
fountain  which  He  had  created  on  the  sixth  day  at  dusk,  and 

1  It  seems  probable  that  S.  Paul  alludes  to  this  traditional  speech 
more  than  once,  as  for  instance  Gal.  iii.  9. 


ABRAHAM. 

of  which  the  children  of  Israel  were  destined  to  drink  when 
they  came  forth  out  of  Egypt. 

But  the  accusing  angel  murmured  against  this  judgment 
of  God,  and  said,  “O  Lord  of  the  whole  earth  !  shall  this  one, 
of  whom  a  nation  of  robbers  shall  arise,  who  will  war  upon 
thine  elect  people,  and  be  a  scourge  upon  the  face  of  the  earth, 
shall  he  be  delivered  now,  and  given  to  drink  of  a  fountain 
destined  for  thine  elect?” 

The  Lord  answered,  “Is  the  youth  guilty,  or  is  he  not  guil¬ 
ty  ?  ” 

The  angel  answered,  “He  is  not  himself  guilty,  but  his 
posterity  will  sin.”  • 

Then  God  said,  “  I  punish  men  for  what  they  have  done, 
and  not  for  what  their  children  will  do.  Ishmael  hath  not 
merited  a  death  of  suffering,  therefore  shall  he  not  die.”  And 
God  opened  the  eyes  of  Hagar,  and  she  saw  the  spring  of  wa¬ 
ter,  and  filled  her  pitcher,  and  took  it  to  Ishmael  to  drink. 
She  filled  the  pitcher  before  she  gave  her  son  a  draught  of 
water,  for  she  had  little  faith,  and  thought  that  the  fountain 
would  be  withdrawn  before  she  could  return  to  it  again. 

Then  Ishmael  was  strengthened  and  could  go,  and  he  and 
his  mother  went  further,  and  were  fed  by  the  shepherds ;  and 
they  reached  Paran,  and  there  they  found  springs  of  water, 
and  they  settled  there.  Ishmael  took  a  wife,  a  daughter  of 
Moab,  named  Aischa,  or  Aifa,or  Asiah  ;  but  others  say  she  was 
an  Egyptian  woman,  and  was  named  Meriba  (the  quarrelsome), 
and  by  her  he  had  four  sons  and  one  daughter. 

Ishmael  lived  a  wandering  life  in  tents  with  his  wife  and 
cattle  ;  and  the  Lord  blessed  his  flocks,  and  he  had  great  pos¬ 
sessions.  But  his  heart  remained  the  same ;  and  he  was  a 
master  of  archery,  and  instructed  his  neighbors  in  making  bow’s. 

After  three  years,  Abraham,  whose  heart  longed  after  his 
son,  said  to  Sarah,  “  T  must  see  how  my  son  Ishmael  fares.” 
And  she  answered,  “Thou  shalt  go  if  thou  wilt  swear  to  me 
not  to  alight  from  ofif  thy  camel,”  for  she  hated  Hagar,  and 
feared  to  suffer  her  husband  to  meet  her  once  more.  So 
Abraham  .swore.  Then  he  went  to  Paran,  over  the  desert, 
seeking  IshmaeFs  tent ;  and  he  reached  it  at  noon,  but  neither 
Hagar  nor  her  son  were  at  home.  Only  Ishmael  s  wife  was 
within,  and  she  was  scolding  and  beating  the  children. 

So  Abraham  halted  on  his  camel  before  the  tent  door,  and 
the  sun  was  hot  in  the  blue  sky  above,  and  the  sand  was  white 


1 84  OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. . 

and  glaring  beneath.  And  he  called  to  her,  “  Is  thy  husband 
within  ?  ” 

She  answered,  without  rising  from  her  seat,  “  He  is  hunt 
ing.”  Or,  say  others,  she  said  without  looking  at  him  or  rising, 
“  He  is  gathering  dates.” 

Then  Abraham  said,  “  I  am  faint  and  hungry ;  bring  me 
a  little  breacl  and  a  drop  of  water.” 

But  the  woman  answered,  “  I  have  none  for  such  as  thee.’ 

So  Abraham  said  to  her,  “  Say  to  thy  husband,  even  to 
Ishmael,  these  words :  *  An  old  man  hath  come  to  see  thee  out 
of  the  land  of  the  Philistines,  and  he  says,  The  nail  that  fas¬ 
tens  thy  tent  is  bad  ;  cast  it  away  or  thy  tent  will  fall,  and 
get  thee  a  better  nail.’  ”  Then  he  departed,  and  went  home. 

Now  when  Ishmael  returned,  his  wife  told  him  all  these 
words,  and  he  knew  that  his  father  had  been  there,  and  he  un¬ 
derstood  the  tenor  of  his  words,  so  he  sent  away  his  wife,  and 
he  took  another,  with  his  mother’s  advice,  out  of  Egypt,  and 
her  name  was  Fatima. 

And  after  three  years,  Abraham’s  bowels  yearned  once  more 
after  his  son,  and  he^said  to  Sarah,  “  I  must  see  how  Ishmael 
fares.”  And  she  answered,  “  Thou  shalt  go,  if  thou  wilt  swear 
to  me  not  to  alight  from  off  thy  camel.”  So  Abraham  swore. 

Then  he  went  to  Paran,  over  the  desert,  seeking  Ishmael’s 
tent,  and  he  reached  it  at  noon  ;  but  neither  Hagar  nor  her 
son  was  at  home.  Only  Ishmael’s  wife,  Fatima,  was  within, 
and  she  was  singing  to  the  children. 

So  Abraham  halted  on  his  camel  before  the  tent  door,  and 
the  sun  was  hot  in  the  blue  sky  above,  and  the  sand  was  white 
and  glaring  beneath.  And  when  Fatima  saw  a  stranger  at  the 
door,  she  rose  from  her  seat,  and  veiled  her  face,  and  came 
out  and  greeted  him. 

Then  said  Abraham.  “  Is  thy  husband  within  ?  ” 

She  answered,  “  My  lord,  he  is  pasturing  the  camels  in  the 
desert ;  ”  and  she  added,  “  Enter,  my  lord,  into  the  cool  of 
the  tent  and  rest,  and  suffer  me  to  bring  thee  a  little  meat.” 

But  Abraham  said,  “  I  may  not  alight  from  off  my  camel, 
for  my  journey  is  hasty  ;  but  bring  me,  I  pray  thee,  a  morsel 
of  bread  and  a  drop  of  water,  for  I  am  hungry  and  faint.” 

Then  she  ran  and  brought  him  of  the  best  of  all  that  she 
had  in  the  tent,  and  he  ate  and  drank,  and  was  glad. 

So  he  said  to  her,  “  Say  to  thy  husband,  even  to  Ishmael, 
that  an  old  man  out  of  the  land  of  the  Philistines  hath  been 


ABRAHAM. 


here,  and  he  says,  The  nail  that  fastens  thy  tent  is  very  good  ; 
let  it  not  be  stirred  out  of  its  place,  and  thy  tent  will  stand.” 

And  he  returned.  And  when  Ishmael  came  home,  Fatima 
related  to  him  all  the  words  that  the  old  man  had  spoken,  and 
he  understood  the  tenor  of  the  words. 

Ishmael  was  glad  that  his  father  had  visited  him,  for  he 
knew  thereby  that  his  love  to  him  was  not  extinguished.1 

Shortly  after,  he  left  his  wife  and  children,  and  went  across 
the  desert  to  see  his  father  in  the  land  of  the  Philistines.  And 
Abraham  related  to  him  all  that  had  taken  place  with  the  first 
wife,  and  why  he  had  exhorted  him  to  put  her  away. 

8.  THE  STRIFE  BETWEEN  THE  SHEPHERDS. 

Abraham  lived  twenty-six  years  in  the  land  of  the  Philis¬ 
tines  ;  then  he  went  to  Hebron,  and  there  his  servants  dug 
wells,  and  there  they  encamped. 

When  Abimelech’s  servants  heard  of  these  wells  that  they 
had  dug,  they  came  with  their  flocks,  and  desired  to  use  them 
also,  and  the  largest  of  the  wells  they  claimed  as  their  own. 
But  Abraham’s  shepherds  said,  “  Let  the  well  belong  to  those 
to  whom  it  gives  water.  The  Lord  shall  decide  between  us  !  ” 

To  this  the  servants  of  Abimelech  agreed.  And  when  the 
flocks  of  Abraham  came  to  drink,  the  well  sprang  up  and  over¬ 
flowed  ;  but  when  the  flocks  of  Abimelech  drew  near,  the  wa¬ 
ter  sank  and  disappeared. 

Now  when  Abimelech  heard  of  the  strife,  he  came  with 
Phicol,  his  chief  captain,  to  seek  Abraham,  and  to  be  reconciled 
with  him.  “  God  is  with  all  that  thou  doest,”  said  Abimelech  ; 
“  He  protected  thee  when  Sodom  was  destroyed.  He  has  giv¬ 
en  thee  a  son  in  thine  old  age.  He  rescued  thy  first  born  when 
perishing  in  the  desert.  Swear  to  me,  as  I  have  offered  thee 
my  whole  land,  my  own  palace  not  excepted,  in  which  to  dwell, 
that  thou  wilt  show  equal  love  and  liberality  to  my  descendants 
to  the  third  generation.” 

Abraham  swore  to  him,  and  they  made  a  covenant  together.2 

And  Abraham  set  apart  seven  lambs  as  a  witness  and 
token,  that  just  as  the  well  had  sprung  up  when  his  flocks  had 
come  to  water  at  it,  so,  in  after  days  should  it  spring  up  to 

1  The  same  story  is  told  by  the  Mohammedans  :  Weil,  p.  90. 

%  Gen.  xxi.  24-27. 


i86 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS, 


water  the  descendants  of  Abraham  ;  as  it  is  said,  “  From  thenci 
they  ivmt  to  Beer ,  that  is,  the  well  whereof  the  Lord  spake  unto 
Afoses,  Gather  the  people  together,  and  I  will  give  them  water 
Then  Israel  sang  this  song ;  Spring  up,  0  well ;  sing  ye  unto  it, M 
But  such  condescension  and  courtesy  ill  became  Abraham 
in  his  dealings  with  a  rude  and  savage  people,  and  therefore 
there  came  to  him  a  voice  from  heaven  which  said  :  “  Because 
thou  hast  given  these  seven  innocent  lambs  into  the  hands  of  a 
barbarous  nation,  therefore  seven  of  thy  descendants  shall  be 
slain  by  their  hands  (Samson,  Hophni  and  Phinehas,  Saul  and 
his  three  sons) ;  also  seven  dwellings  that  thy  people  shall 
raise  to  my  Name  shall  they  destroy  (the  Tabernacle,  Gilgal 
Nob,  Gibeon,  Shiloh,  and  twice  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem),  and 
seven  months  shall  the  ark  of  my  covenant  remain  in  the  land 
of  the  Philistines.” 

9.  THE  GROVE  IN  BEER-SHEBA. 

“  And  Abraham  pla?ited  a  groove  in  Beer-sheba ,  and  called 
there  on  the  name  of  the  Lord 2  The  reason  was  as  follows  : — 
Once  Abraham  asked  Shem  the  son  of  Noah,  otherwise 
called  Melchizedek,  king  of  Salem,  what  service  he  and  his 
father  and  brethren  rendered  to  the  Lord  in  the  ark,  which 
was  so  acceptable  to  God  that  He  preserved  them  alive  and 
brought  them  in  safety  to  Ararat ;  and  Shem  answered,  “  The 
service  we  rendered  to  God,  all  the  time  of  our  sojourn  in  the 
ark,  was  charity.” 

And  when  Abraham  wondered  and  asked  how  that  could 
possibly  be,  as  there  were  none  in  the  ark  save  themselves  and 
the  beasts,  Shem  answered, — 

“  Even  so ;  we  showed  charity  and  forethought  and  hospi¬ 
tality  to  the  animals.  We  fed  them  regularly,  and  we  slept  not 
at  night ;  so  busy  were  we  with  them  in  making  them  comfort¬ 
able.  Once,  when  we  had  delayed  somewhat,  the  lion  was 
hungry  and  bit  Noah,  my  father.” 

Then  said  Abraham  to  himself,  “  In  very  truth,  if  it  was 
reckoned  to  Noah  and  his  sons  as  so  great  righteousness,  that 
they  fed  and  tended  the  dumb  and  senseless  beasts,  how  much 
more  pleasing  must  it  be  to  the  Most  High,  to  be  kind  and 
generous  to  men  who  are  made  in  His  image,  after  His  like¬ 
ness  1  ” 

1  Numbers  xxi.  16.  17.  ’  Gen.  xxi.  33 


A  BRA  FT  AM. 


t87 


Filled  with  this  thought,  Abraham  settled  at  Beer  -sheba, 
where  was  an  abundant  spring  of  fresh  water,  and  there  he  re¬ 
solved  to  do  service  acceptable  to  the  living  God,  and  to  honor 
His  name,  as  Noah  and  his  sons  had  done  Him  service  and 
honored  Him  in  the  ark. 

So  Abraham  planted  a  grove  in  Beer-sheba,  one  hundred 
ells  long  and  one  hundred  ells  broad,  and  he  planted  it  with 
vines  and  figs,  pomegranates  and  other  fruit  trees  ;  and  he  built 
a  guest-house  adjoining  this  garden,  and  he  made  in  it  four 
doors,  one  towards  each  quarter  of  the  heavens  ;  and  when  a 
hungry  man  came  by,  Abraham  gave  him  food  ;  if  there  came  a 
man  who  was  thirsty,  he  gave  him  drink ;  if  one  who  was  na¬ 
ked,  he  clothed  him  ;  if  one  who  was  sick,  he  took  him  in  and 
nursed  him  ;  and  he  gave  to  every  man  who  passed  by  what  he 
most  needed  for  his  journey. 

He  would  receive  neither  thanks  nor  payment ;  and  when 
any  one  thanked  him,  he  said  hastily,  “  Give  thanks,  not  to  me 
the  servant  but  to  the  Master  of  this  house,  who  openeth  His 
handy  and fillet h  all  things  living  with  plenteous  ness.” 

Then  when  the  traveller  asked,  “  Who,  and  where  is  this 
Master  ?  ” 

Abraham  answered,  “  He  is  the  God  who  rules  over  heaven 
and  earth  ;  He  is  Lord  of  all ;  He  kills  and  makes  alive  ;  He 
wounds  and  heals  ;  He  forms  the  fruit  in  the  mother’s  womb, 
and  gives  it  life  ;  He  makes  the  plants  and  trees  to  grow  ;  He 
brings  man  to  destruction,  and  raises  him  from  his  grave 
again.” 

Thus  Abraham  instructed  those  whom  he  relieved.  And 
if  a  traveller  asked  further,  how  he  was  to  worship  the  great 
God,  Abraham  answered,  “  Say  only  these  words,  Praised  be 
the  Eternal  One  who  reigns  over  heaven  and  earth  !  Praised 
be  the  Lord  of  the  whole  world,  who  filleth  all  things  living 
with  plenteousness.”  And  no  traveller  went  on  his  way  with¬ 
out  thanking  God. 

Thus  that  guest  house  was  a  great  school,  in  which  men 
were  taught  the  true  religion,  and  gratitude  to  the  Almighty 
God. 

IO.  THE  OFFERING  OF  ISAAC.1 

Abraham  loved  the  son  of  his  old  age,  and  Isaac  grew  up 

The  Mussulmans  tell  the  story  of  Ishmael  almost  in  every  particular 
the  jame  as  that  given  below. 


f  88 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


in  the  fear  of  God,  and  his  good  conduct  heightened  the  love 
Abraham  bore  him  ;  but  the  Patriarch  thought  in  his  heart, 
“  I  prepare  gifts  to  give  of  my  abundance  to  every  man  that 
asks  of  me,  and  to  every  passer-by  ;  but  to  my  Lord  and  God, 
the  Giver  of  all  good  things,  have  I  given  nothing !  ” 

There  was  a  day  when  the  sons  of  God  (the  angels)  stood 
before  the  Eternal  One,  and  amongst  them  was  the  accusing 
angel,  Satan  or  Sammael.  The  Lord  asked  them,  “  Whence 
comest  thou  ?  ” 

“  From  walking  to  and  fro  upon  the  face  of  the  earth,”  he 
replied. 

“  And  what  hast  thou  beheld  there  of  the  doings  of  the  sous 
of  men  ?  ” 

The  accuser  answered,  “  I  saw  that  the  sons  of  earth  no 
longer  praise  Thee,  and  adore  Thee ;  when  they  have  obtain¬ 
ed  their  petition,  then  they  forget  to  give  Thee  thanks.  I  saw 
that  Abraham,  the  son  of  Terah,  as  long  as  he  was  childless, 
built  altars  and  proclaimed  Thy  name  to  all  the  world  :  now 
he  has  been  given  a  son  at  the  age  of  a  hundred,  and  he  forgets 
Thee.  I  went  to  his  door  as  a  beggar,  on  the  day  that  Isaac  was 
weaned,  and  I  was  turned  away  without  an  alms.  I  have  seen 
him  strike  alliance  with  the  king  of  the  Philistines,  a  nation 
that  knows  Thee  not,  and  to  him  has  he  given  seven  lambs. 
He  has  built  a  large  house  and  he  gives  to  strangers,  but  to 
Thee  he  gives  no  sacrifice  of  value.  Ask  of  him  any  sacrifice 
that  is  costly,  and  he  will  refuse  it.” 

“  What  shall  I  ask  ?  ”  inquired  the  Almighty. 

“  Ask  of  him  now  his  son,  and  he  will  refuse  him  to  Thy 
face.” 

“  I  will  do  so,  and  thou  shalt  be  confounded,”  answered  the 
Holy  One. 

The  self-same  night  God  appeared  to  Abraham,  and  ad¬ 
dressed  him  gently  so  as  not  to  alarm  him,  and  He  said  to 
him,  “  Abraham  !  ” 

The  patriarch  in  deep  humility  answered,  “  Here  am  I, 
Lord  what  wiliest  Thou  of  Thy  servant  ?  ” 

The  Lord  answered,  “  I  have  come  to  ask  of  thee  some¬ 
thing.  I  have  saved  thee  in  all  dangers  ;  I  delivered  thee  out 
of  the  furnace  of  Babylon ;  I  rescued  thee  from  the  army  of 
Nimrod ;  I  brought  thee  into  this  land,  and  gave  thee  men- 
servants  and  maid-servants  and  cattle  and  sheep  and  horses, 
and  I  have  given  thee  a  son  in  thine  old  age,  and  victory  over 


.  ABRAHAM . 


189 


all  thine  enemies,  and  new  temptations  await  thee,  for  I  must 
prove  thee,  and  see  if  thou  art  grateful  in  thy  heart,  and  that 
thy  righteousness  may  be  manifest  unto  all,  and  that  thy  obedi¬ 
ence  may  be  perfected.  Take  therefore  thy  son — ” 

Abraham  answered  trembling,  “Which  son?  I  have  two.” 

The  voice  of  God. — “  That  son  which  alone  counteth  with 
bee.” 

Abraham. — “  Each  is  the  only  son  of  his  mother.” 

Hie  voice  of  God. — “  The  one  you  love.” 

Abraham. — “I  love  both.” 

The  voice  of  God. — “  The  one  you  love  best.” 

Abraham. — “  I  love  both  alike.” 

The  voice  of  God. — “  Then  I  demand  Isaac.” 

Abraham. — “  And  what  shall  I  do  with  him,  O  Lord  ?  ” 

The  voice  of  God. — “  Go  to  the  place  that  I  shall  tell  thee, 
where,  unexpectedly,  hills  shall  arise  in  sight  out  of  the  valley 
bottom.  Go  to  that  place  whence  once  My  Light,  My  Teach¬ 
ing  issued,  which  My  eye  watches  over  untiringly,  and  where 
-  the  smoke  of  incense  shall  arise  to  Me,  to  the  place  where 
prayer  is  heard  and  sacrifice  shall  be  offered,  where  at  the  end 
of  time  I  shall  judge  the  nations,  and  cast  the  ungodly  into 
the  pit  of  Gehinom  ; — to  the  land  of  Moriah  that  1  shall  show 
thee,  there  shalt  thou  take  thy  son  Isaac  as  a  whole  burnt 
offering.” 

Abraham. — “  Shall  I  bring  Thee  such  an  offering  as  this, 
O  Lord?  Where  is  the  priest  to  prepare  the  sacrifice?” 

The  voice  of  God. — “  I  have  taken  from  Shem  his  priesthood, 
and  thou  art  clothed  therewith.” 

Abraham. — “  But  in  that  country  there  are  many  hills ;  which 
shall  I  ascend  ?  ” 

The  voice  of  God. — “  A  mountain  on  which  shall  rest  my 
Glory  ;  there  shall  it  be  told  thee  further  what  thou  must  do.” 

Abraham  prepared  to  fulfil  the  command  of  God,  but  he 
dreaded  the  separation  between  Sarah  and  her  son.  If  he  took 
Isaac  away  secretly,  then  he  feared  that,  in  the  excess  of  her 
distress,  she  would  do  herself  harm.  At  last  he  decided  on 
this  course ;  he  went  to  Sarah’s  tent,  and  he  said  to  her,  “  My 
dearest,  prepare  this  day  a  little  banquet,  that  in  our  old  days 
we  may  rejoice  our  hearts.” 

Sarah  answered,  “  Wherefore  this  day,  my  husband  ?  Are 
you  about  to  lose  any  thing  this  day  ?  ” 

Abraham  said,  “  Think,  my  wife,  Sarah  I  how  good  God  has 


190 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


been  to  us ;  therefore  it  behoves  us  to  thank  Him  all  the  d  ys 
of  our  life.” 

Sarah  did  as  Abraham  had  commanded. 

As  they  sat  and  ate,  Abraham  said,  “  Thou  knowest  v  11, 
dear  wife,  that  I  knew  the  one  true  God  from  the  time  th;  t  I 
was  three  years  old.  Isaac  is  older,  and  it  behoves  him  to 
know  more  of  the  law  of  God.  Therefore  I  design  to  t?  ke 
him  with  me  to  Shem  and  Eber,  our  ancestors,  who  live  7  ot 
far  from  here,  that  they  may  instruct  him.  Hast  thou  any  th>  'g 
to  object  to  this,  Sarah  ?” 

She  answered,  “  No ;  do  that  which  is  pleasing  in  thine  eyes ; 
only  let  not  Isaac  be  away  too  long,  for  thou  knowest  how 
precious  the  sight  of  him  is  to  me.” 

Then  Sarah  put  her  arms  round  her  son,  and  kissed  hin, 
and  they  parted  with  many  tears ;  and  she  exhorted  Abraham 
to  have  great  care  of  the  youth,  that  the  journey  might  not  be 
too  great  for  him.”  ,, 

Next  morning,  very  early,  Abraham  rose,  and  he  saddled  the 
ass  himself,  though  he  had  many  slaves,  for  he  was  eager  to  be 
gone,  and  to  go  where  the  Lord  called  him.  This  was  the  ass, 
born  of  the  she- ass  created  by  God  on  the  eve  of  the  sixth  dav 
upon  which  Moses  afterwards  rodewhen  he  went  to  Egypt  J 
it  is  the  ass  which  spake  to  Balaam,  and  it  is  the  ass  of  whic 
the  prophet  Zechariah  has  spoken,  that  on  it  Messiah  shall  ride 

This  ass  was  of  a  hundred  colors.3 

Sarah  clothed  Isaac  in  the  garment  that  Abimelech  hat 
given  her,  and  placed  a  jewel-studded  fillet  about  his  head 
She  provided  the  travellers  with  food  for  their  journey,  and 
accompanied  them  with  her  maids,  till  Abraham  bade  their 
return.  Then  she  clasped  Isaac  once  more  to  her  breast,  anC 
said  with  tears,  “  God  be  gracious  to  thee,  my  son ;  how  know 
I  that  I  shall  see  thee  again  ?  ” 

Abraham  had  two  to  accompany  him,  Eliezer  and  Ishmael 
he  had  cut  fig  and  palm  wood  and  made  a  fagot.  On  the  way 
this  discourse  took  place  between  Eliezer  and  Ishmael. 

Ishmael  said,  “  I  perceive  clearly  that  my  father  is  about 

1  Exod.  iv.  20.  2  Zech.  ix.  9. 

*  When  King  Sapor  heard  the  R.  Samuel  explain  that  Messiah  would 
come  riding  on  an  ass,  the  king  said,  “  I  will  give  him  a  horse  ;  it  is  not 
seemly  that  he  should  ride  an  ass.”  “What,”  answered  the  Rabbi,  “hast 
thou  a  horse  with  a  hundred  colors?”  (Talmud,  Tract.  Sanhedrim*  foi 
98,  col.  I.) 


ABRAHAM. 


191 

to  offer  Isaac  as  a  whole  burnt  offering ;  therefore  I,  his 
eldest  son,  will  inherit  his  possessions.” 

But  Eliezer  said,  “  That  is  false  :  I  am  his  trusty  servant  ! 
Did  not  thy  father  drive  thee  away  from  home  ?  He  will 
leave  all  to  me.” 

Whilst  they  thus  spake,  there  came  a  voice  from  heaven, 
“O  ye  fools  !  neither  of  you  knows  the  truth.” 

Abraham  in  the  mean  time  walked  forward.  Then  came 
Satan  to  him  in  the  form  of  an  old  man  bowed  upon  a  staff, 
and  said  to  him,  “  Whither  goest  thou  ?  ” 

He  answered,  “  I  go  to  offer  up  my  prayers.” 

“  Wherefore  this  knife,  and  fuel,  and  fire  ?  ”  asked  Satan. 

“  I  take  them  in  case  we  have  to  spend  much  time  on  the 
mountain,  that  we  may  bake  bread  and  slay  beasts.” 

“  Old  man,  thou  deceivest  me,”  said  Satan.  “  Was  I  not 
by  when  a  voice  bade  thee  slay  thy  son,  thine  only  son ;  and 
now,  what  art  thou  about  to  do  ?  Thinkest  thou  that  thou 
shalt  have  another  son,  now  that  thou  art  a  hundred  years  old  ? 
Art  thou  then  about  to  cut  down  with  thine  own  hands  the 
main  pillar  of  thy  tent,  the  staff  on  which  thou  mayest  lean  in 
thine  old  age  ?  Knowest  thou  not  the  proverb,  ‘  He  who  de¬ 
stroys  his  own  goods,  how  shall  he  get  more  ?  ’  That  was  not 
the  voice  of  God,  it  was  the  voice  of  the  Tempter,  and  thou 
didst  listen  to  it.  Dost  thou  think  that  God,  who  promised 
to  make  of  thee  a  great  nation,  and  to  bless  all  generations 
through  Isaac,  would  thus  persuade  thee  to  make  void  His 
own  promises  ?  ” 

Abraham  answered,  “  No,  it  was  not  the  Tempter  who 
spake,  it  was  the  voice^of  God ;  therefore  I  will  not  hearken 
to  thy  words,  but  walk  on  still  in  mine  uprightness.” 

“  But  if  God  were  to  ask  of  thee  some  further  sacrifice, 
wouldst  thou  grant  it  ?  ” 

“  Of  a  truth  -would  I,”  answered  Abraham. 

“  Thy  piety  is  folly,”  said  Satan  impatiently.  “  To-morro  n 
God  will  punish  thee  for  this  murder  thou  art  about  to  com¬ 
mit,  since  thou  wilt  shed  the  blood  of  thine  own  son.” 

But  when  Satan  saw  that  Abraham  was  not  to  be  moved 
from  his  purpose,  then  he  took  the  form  of  a  blooming  youth, 
and  joined  himself  to  Isaac  and  asked  him  the  object  of  his 
journey. 

Isaac  replied  that  he  was  going  to  receive  instruction  in 
the  law  of  the  Most  High. 


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OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


“  Art  thou  going  to  receive  this  instruction  living  or  dead  ?  ” 
asked  Satan,  scornfully. 

Isaac. — “  Can  a  man  receive  instruction  after  he  is  dead  ?  ” 

Satan. — u  O  thou  son  of  a  mother  much  to  be  pitied, 
knowest  thou  not  that  thy  father  is  leading  thee  to  death  ?  ” 

Isaac. — “  Nevertheless  I  shall  follow  him.” 

Satan. — “Then  all  the  tears  and  prayers  of  thy  mother, 
beseeching  Heaven  to  grant  her  a  son,  end  in  this  !  All  the 
pains  and  grief  in  child-bearing  !  All  the  afflictions  she  laid 
on  Hagar  and  Ishmael !  All  the  care  she  has  taken  of  thy 
youth  !  All  the  love  she  has  expended  upon  thee  !  All  these 
things  for  nothing  1  ” 

Isaac. — “As  my  father  wills.” 

Satan. — “  Then  the  inheritance  passes  to  Ishmael.  How 
he  will  glory  in  being  the  first-born,  and  his  mother  Hagar  will 
despise  Sarah,  and  maybe  will  drive  her  out !  ” 

Isaac. — “  I  obey  the  command  of  my  father  and  the  will  of 
God,  be  they  what  they  may.” 

But  these  words  were  not  without  some  effect  on  Isaac. 
With  piteous  voice  he  urged  his  father  to  suspend  or  delay 
what  he  had  undertaken.  But  Abraham  exhorted  his  son  not 
to  listen  or  give  credence  to  the  words  he  had  heard,  for  they 
were  the  temptations  of  Satan  to  draw  him  from  the  path  of 
obedience  and  the  fear  of  God. 

They  went  a  little  further  and  came  to  a  broad  stream. 
Abraham,  Isaac,  and  their  followers  sought  to  wade  it ;  the 
water  at  first  reached  their  knees,  but  when  they  were  in  the 
middle,  it  rose  to  their  necks. 

Abraham,  who  knew  well  the  spot,  and  that  there  was  nei¬ 
ther  brook  nor  river  there  by  nature,  recognized  this  as  a  de¬ 
ception  of  Satan,  to  divert  them  from  the  right  way.  He  told 
Isaac  that  this  was  his  opinion,  and  raising  his  eyes  to  heaven 
tie  prayed  ;  “  Thou,  O  Lord,  didst  declare  to  me  Thy  will, 
that  I  should  take  Isaac  my  son  and  offer  him  to  Thee  in 
oledge  of  my  obedience.  I  did  not  hesitate,  I  did  not  refuse, 
and  now  the  water  overwhelms  us  and  we  sink ;  how  then  can 
I  perform  that  which  Thou  badest  me  do  ?  ” 

The  Lord  answered,  “Fear  not,  through  thee  shall  My 
Name  be  known.” 

Then  the  stream  vanished  away,  and  they  stood  upon  dry 
sand. 

But  now  Satan  made  another  attempt  to  turn  Abraham  from 


ABRAHAM. 


l9S 


his  purpose.  He  drew  him  aside  and  said,  “  The  object  of 
thy  journey  has  failed.  I  caught  a  whisper  in  heaven,  and 
it  was  this — God  will  prepare  a  lamb  for  the  sacrifice,  and 
not  thy  son.” 

Abraham  answered,  “  Even  if  thy  words  be  true,  it  matters 
not ;  for  this  is  the  penalty  of  liars,  that  when  they  speak  the 
truth  they  are  not  believed.” 

Abraham  journeyed  on  the  rest  of  that  day,  without  seeing 
his  appointed  place.  Next  day  he  retraced  his  steps,  but 
could  find  no  signs  of  the  place.  The  Almighty  had  so 
ordered  it,  that  men  might  not  say  Abraham  was  hasty  and 
acted  precipitately,  but  might  see  that  he  had  leisure  and 
time  for  reflection  on  what  he  was  about  to  do. 

*  On  the  morning  of  the  third  day,1  they  reached  the  height 
of  Zophitn,  and  thence  Abraham  saw  a  beautiful  mountain- 
land,  and  on  the  top  of  one  of  the  mountains  was  a  fiery 
pillar,  which  reached  from  earth  to  heaven, — it  was  the  glory 
of  the  Lord  appearing  in  the  cloud. 

When  Abraham  asked  Isaac  if  he  beheld  this  sight,  he  an¬ 
swered  that  he  did  so  ;  but  when  he  asked  his  other  compan¬ 
ions,  they  replied  that  they  saw  nothing  save  the  brown  hills 
and  purple  valleys.  Some  say  they  answered  that  one  hill 
was  to  them  like  every  other  hill. 

From  this,  Abraham  concluded  that  God  was  well  pleased 
with  Isaac  as  a  victim.  Then  he  said  to  Eliezer  and  Ishmael : 

“  Tarry  ye  here  with  the  ass,  for  you  are  not  worthy  to  be¬ 
hold  the  Shekinah  nearer.  But  I  and  the  youth  will  go  on, 
so  many  only  shall  go.” 

Now,  as  he  said  these  words,  it  suddenly  came  to  his  mind 
that  God  had  promised  him  a  great  people  descended  from 
Isaac,  so  many  as  the  stars  for  multitude,  and  with  prophetic 
voice  he  said,  “  If  the  Lord  will,  so  many  as  go  on,  so  many 
shall  return.” 

Then  Abraham  laid  the  wood  of  the  sacrifice  on  his  son 
Isaac,  and  took  the  fire  and  the  knife  in  his  hand  ;  and  they 
went  on  both  together,  Abraham  joyous,  and  Isaac  without 
fear  or  thought. 

1  The  day  is  uncertain.  Some  say  it  was  the  3d  Nisan ;  others,  it 
was  the  first  of  the  seventh  month,  Tischri,  New  Year’s  day;  others, 
that  it  was  the  Day  of  Atonement.  Some  say  Isaac’s  age  was  37  ;  others 
say  36;  others  26;  others  23;  others  16;  others  13:  others,  again,  say 
5 ;  and  others  say  only  2  years. 

13 


*94 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


But  after  they  had  gone  some  way,  Isaac  turned  to  his  fa¬ 
ther  and  said,  “  Father,  whither  are  we  going  alone?” 

Abraham. — “  My  son,  we  go  to  offer  a  sacrifice?” 

Isaac. — “  But  art  thou  a  priest  to  execute  this  under¬ 
taking  ?  ” 

Abraham. — “  Shem,  the  High  Priest,  will  prepare  the  vic¬ 
tim.” 

A  great  fear  fell  upon  Isaac  when  he  saw  that  they  had  no 
animal  with  them  to  offer,  and  he  said,  “  Here  are  the  fire  and 
the  wood,  but  where  is  a  lamb  for  the  whole  offering  ?  ” 

Abraham. — “  The  lamb  which  is  to  be  offered  is  foreknown 
to  the  Almighty.  He  will  provide  the  lamb  ;  anddf  none  other 
is  here,  then  must  thou  be  the  offering,  my  son.” 

Isaac  was  silent,  for  the  fear  of  death  came  over  him.  But 
presently  he  recovered  himself  and  said,  “If  God  chooses  me, 
I  place  my  soul  in  His  hands.” 

Abraham. — “  My  son  !  Is  there  any  blemish  in  thee  with 
in  ?  For  the  offering  must  be  without  blemish  of  any  sort.” 

Isaac. — “  My  father !  There  is  none.  I  swear  by  God  and 
by  thy  life,  that  in  my  heart  there  is  not  the  least  resistance  to 
the  Divine  will.  My  limbs  do  not  tremble,  and  there  is  no 
quaking  at  my  heart.  With  gladness  do  I  say,  The  Lord  be 
praised,  who  has  chosen  me  for  a  whole  sacrifice.”  1 

Abraham. — “  O  my  son,  with  many  a  wish  wast  thou 
brought  into  this  world.  Since  thou  hast  been  in  it,  every  care 
has  been  lavished  on  thee.  I  hoped  to  have  had  thee  to  follow 
me  and  make  a  great  nation.  But  now  I  must,  myself,  offer 
thee.  Wondrous  was  thy  coming  into  this  world,  and  won¬ 
drous  will  be  thy  going  out  of  it  ! 3  Not  by  sickness,  not  by 
war,  but  as  a  sacrifice.  I  had  designed  thee  to  be  my  com¬ 
fort  and  stay  in  old  age  ;  now  God  himself  must  take  thy 
place.”  3 

Isaac. — “  It  were  unworthy  of  thee  were  I  to  think  to  with¬ 
stand  the  decree  of  God,  and  of  thee.  Had  the  decision  been 
thine  alone,  I  would  have  obeyed.” 

1  In  the  Rabbinic  tradition,  the  type  of  Christ  comes  out  more  distinctly 
than  in  Genesis,  for  here  we  see  Isaac  not  merely  offered  by  his  father,  but 
also  giving  himself  as  a  free-will  offering,  immaculate  without  in  his  body, 
and  within  in  his  soul. 

s  Might  not  these  words  be  spoken  mystically  of  Christ? 

1  And  these  prophetic.  Abrahain  means  that  God  must  take  care  of 
him  in  his  old  age.  But  they  may  also  be  taken  1  y  us  thus,  God  must 
take  thy  place  as  the  victim. 


ABRAHAM. 


*95 


When  they  reached  the  top  of  Moriah,  God  said  to  A  bra* 
ham, — 

“  This  is  the  place  where  once  Adam,  when  driven  out  of 
Paradise,  built  an  altar  to  My  name.  Here  also  Cain  and  Abel 
offered  their  sacrifice.  Then  came  the  Flood,  and  when  it  was 
passed  away,  Noah  offered  victims  to  Me  here.  When  the 
people  were  scattered  from  the  tower  of  Babel,  then  this  altar 
was  overthrown.  Now  it  is  for  thee,  friend  of  God,  to  set  it 
up  again !  ” 

Abraham  built  the  altar,  and  Isaac  brought  him  the  stones. 
But,  according  to  some  authors,  this  was  not  so.  Abraham 
hid  his  son  in  a  cave,  lest  Satan  should  take  advantage  of  the 
opportunity,  with  a  stone  or  clod  of  earth,  to  blemish  him. 

And  when  all  was  ready  and  the  wood  laid  in  order,  then 
isaac  said  to  his  father,  “  Bind  me  hand  and  foot,  lest  in  the 
fear  of  death  I  start  and  thou  wound  me,  and  so  I  be  blemished. 
Fold  thy  garments  together,  and  gird  thy  loins,  and  bare  thine 
arm,  and  strike  me  with  the  knife  and  then  burn  me  to  ashes, 
and  lay  up  my  ashes  in  a  coffer,  and  let  this  coffer  be  preserved 
as  a  memorial  of  me  in  thy  house,  before  my  mother  ;  and 
when  thou  passest  by  it,  bid  her  remember  me.  But  remind 
her  not  of  it  near  a  well,  or  on  the  edge  of  a  precipice,  lest 
she  cast  herself  down  in  her  grief.” 1 

And  he  continued,  “  When  thou  returnest  home,  how  wilt 
thou  console  my  mother  ?  ” 

Abraham  answered,  “  Well  I  know  that  he  who  comforted 
us  before  thou  earnest,  will  comfort  us  after  thou  art  gone 
from  us.”  2 

Abraham  now  stood  over  his  son,  who  was  bound  with  his 
hands  to  his  feet,  upon  the  wood  laid  in  order  ;  and  the  eyes 
of  Abraham  rested  on  the  eyes  of  his  son.  But  Isaac  looked 
up  into  heaven,  and  saw  the  Angel  hosts  crowded  about  God’s 
throne.  Abraham  saw  not  this,  and  he  lifted  the  knife  ;  but 
he  trembled  and  the  knife  fell  from  his  hand,  and  he  cried 
aloud,  “  O  my  son  !  Would  that  another  offering  were  found 

1  Here  again — it  may  be  fanciful — but  I  cannot  help  thinking  we  have 
the  type  continued  of  Christ’s  presence  perpetuated  in  the  Church,  in  the 
Tabernacle  in  which  the  Host  is  reserved,  that  all  passing  by  may  look 
thereupon  and  worship,  and  “  Remember  Me  ”  in  the  adorable  Sacrament. 
With  a  vast  amount  of  utterly  unfounded  fable,  the  Rabbinic  traditions 
may,  and  probably  do,  contain  much  truth. 

*  “  If  I  go  not  away,  the  Comforter  will  not  come  unto  you  j  but  if  I 
depart,  I  will  send  Him  unto  you.”  (John  xvi.  7.) 


tq6  OLD  testament  characters. 

instead  of  thee  !  But  my  help  cometh  only  from  the  Lord 
who  hath  made  heaven  and  earth  ?” 

Then  he  gathered  up  his  resolution,  and  took  the  knife  and 
held  it  once  more  to  strike  ;  and  Isaac’s  spirit  left  him,  and  he 
swooned  away. 

But  the  angels  of  God,  who  stood  round  about  His  throne, 
announced  to  the  Most  High  all  that  took  place,  and  they 
cried  and  wept,  and  even  the  fiery  seraphim  exclaimed,  “  Woe  ! 
He  slays  his  son.”  And  the  tears  of  the  angels  fell  upon  the 
face  of  Isaac,  and  made  him  ever  after  sad  of  countenance. 

Then  God  said,  “  Behold  and  see  how  great  is  the  faith  of 
My  servant  Abraham,  how  on  earth  a  man  can  hallow  My 
great  name,  and  devote  his  best  and  dearest  to  My  service ; 
see  that,  ye,  who  at  the  creation  exclaimed,  What  is  7?ian,  that 
thou  art  mindful  of  him ,  and  the  son  of  man  that  thou  so  re- 
gardes t  him  l  ” 

Then  He  ordered  Michael  to  fly  swiftly,  and  stay  the  hand 
of  Abraham. 

And  the  archangel,  when  he  came  near,  cried  aloud,  “  Abra* 
ham  !  Abraham  !  what  doest  thou  ?  ” 

Abraham  looked  in  the  direction  of  the  voice,  in  doubt, 
and  said,  “  Here  am  I.” 

Then  said  the  angel,  “  Lay  not  thine  hand  upon  the  lad \ 
neither  do  thou  any  thing  unto  him.” 

And  Abraham  said,  “  Who  art  thou  ?  ” 

Michael  told  him  who  he  was.  Then  said  Abraham,  “  The 
Most  High  appeared  to  me  in  a  vision,  and  bade  me  take  my 
son  as  a  whole  offering  to  the  place  which  He  should  say,  and 
I  may  take  no  command  from  a  servant  of  God,  against  that 
which  God  Himself  hath  laid  upon  me.” 

Then  heaven  opened,  and  he  saw  the  glory  of  God,  and 
God  said  to  him,  “  Touch  not  the  lad  to  do  him  harm,  for  now 
I  know  that  thou  fearest  God,  seeing  thou  hast  not  withheld  thy 
son,  thine  only  son,  from  Me.” 

And  Abraham  said,  “  How  is  this,  O  Lord  1  that  Thou 
changest  Thy  purpose,  and  sayest  one  day,  Do  this,  and  the 
next,  Do  it  not  ?  ” 

And  the  Lord  answered,  and  said,  “  I  said  not  unto  thee, 
Slay  the  lad  as  a  burnt  offering,  but  I  said,  Take  thy  son  to 
the  place  that  I  shall  tell  thee,  as  a  whole  burnt  offering.  This 
hast  thou  done  ;  thou  hast  fulfilled  My  command,  I  exact  no 
more  of  thee.  I  change  not  my  purpose,  but  I  did  suffer  thee 


ABRAHAM. 


197 


to  misunderstand  the  purport  of  My  command,  and  to  think 
that  I  exacted  more  of  thee  ;  and  this  I  did  to  prove  thee. 
And  now,  by  Myself  have  I  sworn  ;  for  because  thou  hast  done 
this  thing, ,  and  hast  not  withheld  thy  son ,  thine  o?ily  so?i ;  that 
in  blessing  I  will  bless  thee ,  and  in  multiplying  I  will  multiply 
thy  seed  as  the  stars  of  the  heavens ,  and  as  the  sand  which  is 
upon  the  sea  shore ;  and  thy  seed  shall  possess  the  gate  of  his 
enemies 

Then  Isaac  revived,  and  Abraham  cut  his  cords,  and  he 
stood  up  and  said,  “  Praised  be  the  eternal  One,  who  quicken 
eth  those  that  be  dead.” 

And  Abraham  turned  to  the  Shekinah  and  said,  “  Lord  ! 
how  shall  I  depart  hence  without  having  offered  to  Thee  a  sac¬ 
rifice  ?”  The  Lord  answered,  “  Lift  thine  eyes,  and  thou  shalt 
see  a  beast  for  sacrifice  behind  thee.” 

In  the  thicket  of  the  wood  was  that  ram  which  God  created 
at  dusk  on  the  sixth  day,  that  it  might  serve  this  purpose.  An 
angel  had  brought  it  out  of  Paradise,  where  it  had  lived  since 
its  creation,  and  had  fed  under  the  shadow  of  the  Tree  of  Life, 
and  had  drunk  of  the  River  that  there  flows.  And  when  the 
ram  was  brought  into  this  earth,  all  the  earth  was  filled  with 
the  fragrance  from  its  fleece,  on  which  hung  the  odors  of  the 
flowers  on  which  it  had  lain  in  Paradise. 

But  by  Satan’s  fraud,  the  animal  was  frightened  and  strayed 
away,  and  Abraham  tracked  it  by  its  foot-prints.  Then  Satan 
decoyed  the  beast  behind  some  bushes  and  entangled  its  horns 
in  the  thicket ;  and  Abraham  would  have  passed  by,  and  not 
seen  it,  but  the  ram  caught  him  by  his  cloak.  So  Abraham 
slew  it,  and  offered  it  in  sacrifice,  and  sprinkled  with  its  blood 
the  altar  he  had  made. 

Now  the  Last  Trumpets  that  shall  sound,  the  one  to  call 
the  just,  the  other  the  unjust,  are  made  of  the  horns  of  this 
wondrous  ram. 


II.  THE  DEATH  OF  SARAH. 

Sarah, — who,  as  we  have  seen,  accompanied  Abraham  and 
Isaac  part  of  the  way  to  Moriah, — on  her  return  to  the  tent, 
found  an  old  man  awaiting  her.  It  was  Satan. 

He  greeted  her  with  profound  respect,  and  asked  after  her 
husband  and  son. 

She  answered  that  they  had  gone  forth  on  a  journey. 


198 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS . 


“Whither  have  they  gone  ?  ”  asked  Satan. 

“  My  1  ord  has  gone  to  visit  ‘he  school  of  Shem  and  Eber 
oui  grandsires,  there  to  leave  t^y  son  Isaac  to  be  instructed  in 
the  law  of  God.” 

“  Alas  !  alas  !  ”  exclaimed  the  Apostate  Angel  ;  “  thou  art 
greatly  deceived.” 

Sarah  was  alarmed  ;  and  she  asked  wherefore  he  spake 
thus. 

“  Know  then,”  said  Satan,  “  that  Abraham  has  gone  forth 
with  Isaac  to  sacrifice  him,  upon  a  mountain,  to  the  Most 
High  ” 

When  she  heard  this,  Sarah  laid  her  head  on  the  bosom  01 
a  slave  and  fainted.  When  she  came  to  herself  she  hurried 
with  her  maidens  to  the  school  of  Shem  and  Eber,  and  inquired 
after  her  husband  and  son,  but  they  had  neither  seen  nor  heard 
any  thing  of  them.  So  Sarah  was  convinced  that  what  had 
been  told  her  was  true,  and  there  was  no  spirit  left  in  her. 

Now  when  Satan  knew  that  Abraham  was  bringing  back  his 
son,  and  that  God  had  accepted  the  will  for  the  deed,  he  was 
moved  with  envy  and  spite,  and  he  could  not  rest  to  think  of 
the  joy  that  this  would  cause  ;  so  he  went  hastily  to  Sarah,  and 
she  was  weeping  in  her  tent,  and  sorely  cast  down  and  broken 
in  spirit.  Then  he  said  suddenly  to  her,  “  Thy  son  liveth  and 
is  returning.  God  hath  spared  him  !  ” 

And  she  rose  up  and  uttered  a  cry,  and  fell,  and  was  dead ; 
for  the  joy  had  killed  her.” 

Abraham  and  Isaac,  in  the  mean  time  had  returned  from 
Moriah,  and  they  sought  Sarah  at  Beer-sheba,  but  she  was  not 
there ;  therefore  they  went  to  Hebron,  and  there  they  found 
her  corpse.  Isaac  fell  weeping  upon  the  face  of  his  mother, 
and  he  cried,  “  Mother,  mother  !  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  1 
why  hast  thou  gone  away  ?  ” 

Abraham  wept  aloud,  and  all  the  dwellers  in  Hebron  wept 
and  lamented  over  Sarah,  and  ceased  from  their  labors,  that 
they  might  mourn  with  Abraham  and  Isaac.  Sarah’s  age  was 
one  hundred  and  seven-and-twenty  years,  and  she  was  as  fail 
to  look  upon  when  she  died  as  in  the  bloom  of  her  youth. 

And  as  Abraham  was  bowed  over  the  body  of  his  wife,  he 
heard  the  laugh  of  the  Angel  of  Death,  and  his  words,  “  Where¬ 
fore  weepest  thou  ?  Thou  bearest  the  blame  of  her  death. 
Hadst  thou  not  taken  her  son  from  her,  she  would  have  been 
alive  now.” 


ABRAHAM. 


199 


Abraham  sought  a  place  where  to  bury  her ;  and  he  went 
to  the  Hittites  and  asked  them  to  suffer  him  to  buy  for  his 
possession  a  parcel  of  land,  where  he  might  bury  one  dead  body. 
But  they  said,  “Nay,  we  will  give  thee  land;”  but  he  would 
not.  So  they  said,  “  Choose  now  a  place  where  thou  wouldst 
have  thy  sepulchre,  and  we  will  entreat  the  owner  for  thee.” 

Then  Abraham  said,  “  I  desire  the  double  cave  of  Ephron 
the  son  of  Zohar.  If  it  be  your  mind  that  I  should  bury  my  dead 
out  of  my  sight ,  hear  me,  and  entreat  for  me  to  Ephron  the  son  of 
Zohar ,  that  he  may  give  me  the  cave  of  Machfelah ,  which  he  hath  ; 
for  as  much  money  as  is  worth  he  shall  give  it  me,  for  a  possession 
of  a  burying-place  amongst  you.” 

And  this  was  the  reason  why  Abraham  desired  that  cave. 
When  he  had  gone  after  the  calf,  to  slay  it  for  the  three  angels 
that  came  to  him  before  the  destruction  of  Sodom,  the  calf  had 
fled  from  him,  and  he  had  pursued  it  into  this  cave  ;  and  on  en¬ 
tering  it,  he  found  that  it  was  roomy,  and  in  the  inner  recesses 
he  saw  the  bodies  of  Adam  and  Eve  laid  out  with  burning  tapers 
around  them,  and  the  air  was  fragrant  with  incense. 

The  Hittites  elected  Emor  their  chief  that  he  might  deal 
with  Abraham,  for  it  did  not  become  a  chief  and  prince,  like 
Abraham,  to  deal  with  an  inferior ;  and  Emor  said  in  the  au¬ 
dience  of  the  people  of  the  land,  “  My  Lord,  hear  me  ;  the  field 
give  I  thee ,  and  the  cave  that  is  therein,  I  give  it  thee  ;  in  the  pres¬ 
ence  of  the  sons  of  my  people  give  I  it  thee  ;  bury  thy  dead.” 

But  this  he  said  with  craft,  for  he  sought  to  take  an  advan¬ 
tage  of  Abraham.1 

Then  Ephron  said,  “  Put  thine  own  price  upon  the  land  ;  ” 
but  this  Abraham  would  not  do. 

Then  Ephron  said  to  Abraham,  “My  lord,  Hearken  unto 
me;  the  land  is  worth  four  hundred  shekels  of  silver;  what  is 
that  betwixt  me  and  thee  l  bury  therefore  thy  dead.” 

Now  the  land  was  not  worth  half  that  sum,  but  Emor  said 
in  his  heart,  “  Abraham  can  afford  to  pay  it,  and  he  is  in  haste 
to  bury  his  dead  out  of  his  sight.” 

Nevertheless,  Abraham  paid  him  in  the  sight  of  all  his  peo 

1  This  is  one  instance  out  of  several  in  which  the  honorable  and  gen- 
eroas  conduct  of  a  Oentile  is  distorted  by  Rabbinical  tradition  ;  the  later 
Rabbis  being  unwilling  to  give  any  but  their  own  nation  credit  for  liberal 
and  just  dealing.  It  may  have  been  observed  in  the  account  of  Abimelech, 
how  the  frank  exchange  of  promises  between  Abraham  and  the  PhiiiAtine 
prince  was  regarded  by  them  as  sinful. 


t  oo 


CLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


pie.  And  the  transfer  of  the  land  and  cave  was  signed  by 
Amigal,  son  of  Abischna  the  Hittite ;  Elichoran,  son  of  Essu- 
nass,  the  Hivite  ;  Abdon,  son  of  Ahirah,  the  Gomorrhite  ;  and 
Akdil,  son  of  Abdis,  the  Sidonian. 

Machpelah  (double  cave)  was  so  called,  because,  say  some, 
it  contained  two  chambers;  or,  say  others,  because  Abiaham 
paid  double  its  value  ;  or,  say  others,  because  it  became  doubly 
holy ;  but  others  again  observe,  with  the  highest  probability 
because  Adam’s  body  had  to  be  doubled  up  to  get  it  into  the 
cave. 

Because  the  Hittites  dealt  honorably,  and  sought  to  pro 
cure  a  place  for  Abraham,  where  he  might  lay  Sarah,  theii 
name  is  written  ten  times  in  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

They  took  also  an  oath  of  Abraham,  that  he  and  his  seed 
should  never  attack  their  city  Jebus  with  violence;  and  they 
wrote  his  promise  on  brazen  pillars,  and  set  them  up  in  the 
market-place  of  Jebus.  Therefore,  when  the  Israelites  con¬ 
quered  Canaan,  they  left  the  Jebusites  unmolested.1  But  when 
David  sought  to  take  the  stronghold  of  Jebus,2  its  inhabitants 
said  to  him,  “Thou  canst  not  storm  our  city,  because  of  the 
covenant  of  Abraham,  which  is  engraven  on  these  pillars  of 
brass.” 

David  removed  these  brazen  pillars,  for  they  were  in  time 
honored  as  idols;  therefore  the  inhabitants  of  Jebus  were  hated 
of  Davids  soul;'  but  he  did  not  break  the  covenant  of  Abra¬ 
ham,  for  he  obtained  the  city  of  Jebus,  not  by  force  of  arms, 
but  by  purchase.4 

Sarah  was  buried  with  the  utmost  honor ;  Shem  (Melchize- 
dek),  his  grandson  Eber,  Abimelech,  Aner,  Eschol  and  Mamre, 
together  with  all  the  great  men  of  the  land,  followed  the  bier. 
Abraham  caused  a  great  mourning  throughout  the  country  to 
be  made  for  seven  days.  After  that,  Abraham  returned  to 
Beer-Sheba,  and  Isaac  went  to  be  instructed  in  the  law  by 
Melchizedek.  A  year  after,  died  Abimelech,  king  of  Gerar, 
and  Abraham  attended  his  funeral.  Soon  after,  also,  died 
Nahor,  Abraham’s  brother. 

1  Joshua  i.  21.  1  2  Sam.  v.  6  ;  i  Chron.  xi.  4.  8  2  Sam.  v.  8. 

4  2  Sam.  xxiv.  24  ;  I  Chron.  xxi.  24.  This  is,  however,  in  direct  con 
travention  of  the  account  in  the  fifth  chapter  of  the  2d  Samuel. 


ABRAHAM. 


20  i 


12.  THE  MARRIAGE  OF  ISAAC. 

After  the  death  of  Sarah,  say  some,  Abraham  had  a  daugh¬ 
ter  named  Bakila,  by  Hagar,  who  returned  to  him  now  that 
her  enemy  was  dead ;  but,  according  to  others,  the  great  bless¬ 
ing  of  Abraham  consisted  in  this,  that  he  had  no  daughters 
Ishmael  abandoned  his  disorderly  ways,  and  loved  and  respect¬ 
ed  his  brother. 

Isaac  mourned  his  mother  three  years.  When  this  time  was 
elapsed,  Abraham  called  to  him  his  faithful  servant  Eliezer, 
and  said  to  him,  “  I  am  old,  and  I  know  not  the  day  of  my 
death  ;  therefore  must  I  no  longer  delay  the  marriage  of  my 
son  Isaac.  Lay  thine  hand  upon  my  thigh,  and  swear  to  me 
by  God  Almighty  to  fulfil  my  commission.  Do  not  take  for 
my  son  a  wife  of  the  daughters  of  the  Canaanites,  but  go  to 
Haran,  to  the  place  whence  I  came,  and  bring  thence  a  wife 
for  my  son  Isaac.”  And  he  added  the  proverb,  “  When  you 
have  wheat  of  your  own,  do  not  sow  your  field  with  your  neigh¬ 
bor’s  corn.” 

Eliezer  asked,  “  But  how,  if  a  woman  of  that  place  will  not 
accompany  me  hither  ?  ” 

But  Abraham  said,  “  Fear  not ;  go,  and  the  Lord  be  with 
thee.” 

So  the  servant  of  Abraham  went  with  ten  camels,  and  he 
reached  Haran  in  three  hours,  for  the  earth  fled  under  the 
feet  of  his  camels,  and  Michael,  the  angel,  protected  him  on  his 
way. 

When  he  reached  Haran,  he  besought  the  Lord  to  give  him 
a  sign,  by  which  he  might  know  the  maiden  who  was  to  be  the 
wife  of  Isaac.  "  Let  it  come  to  pass ,  that  the  damsel  to  whom  1 
shall  say,  Let  down  thy  pitcher,  L  pray  thee,  that  I  may  d?'ink  ; 
and  she  shall  say,  Drink ,  and  I  will  give  thy  camels  drink  also  ; 
let  the  sa?ne  he  she  that  Thou  hast  appointed  for  Thy  servant 
Isaac.” 

And  there  were  many  damsels  by  the  fountain.  And  the 
servant  said  to  them,  “  Let  down  the  pitcher  that  I  may  drink.” 
But  they  all  said,  “  We  may  not  tarry,  for  we  must  take  the  wa¬ 
ter  home.” 

Then  came  Rebekah  the  daughter  of  Bethuel,  son  of  Milcah, 
the  wife  of  Nahor,  Abraham’s  brother,  out  of  the  well,  and  she 
chid  the  maidens  for  their  churlishness ;  and  lo  !  the  water  in 
the  well  leaped  to  the  margin,  and  she  let  down  her  pitcher  and 

9* 


902 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


offered  it  to  the  man,  and  said,  Drink ;  and  I  will  give  thy 
camels  drink  also."  Then  Eliezer  leaped  from  his  camel,  and 
he  brought  forth  his  gifts,  and  he  gave  her  a  nose  ring  with  a 
jewel  of  half  a  shekel  weight,  and  bracelets  of  ten  shekels 
weight.  And  he  asked  if  he  might  lodge  in  her  house  one 
night. 

She  answered,  “  Not  one  night  only,  but  many.” 

Now  Rebekah’s  brother,  Laban,  so  called  from  the  paleness 
of  his  face,  or,  say  some,  from  the  cowardice  of  his  breast, 
which  made  him  pale, — coveted  the  man’s  gold,  and  resolved 
to  kill  him.  Therefore  he  put  poison  in  the  bowl  of  meat  which 
was  offered  him.  But  the  bowl  was  changed  by  accident,  and 
it  fell  to  the  portion  of  Bethuel,  and  he  ate,  and  died  that  same 
night. 

And  Laban  would  have  fallen  upon  Eliezer  with  his  own 
hand,  but  that  he  saw  him  lead  the  two  camels  at  once  over  the 
brook,  and  he  knew  thereby  that  he  was  stronger  than  he. 

After  the  engagement  had  been  drawn  up,  as  it  is  written  in 
the  first  book  of  Moses,1  Eliezer  urged  for  a  speedy  departure. 
Mother  and  brother  consented,  but  on  the  following  day  they 
asked  that,  besides  the  seven  days  of  mourning  for  Bethuel, 
they  should  tarry  a  year,  or  at  least  ten  months,  according  to 
the  usual  custom.  But  Rebekah  opposed  them,  and  said  that 
she  would  go  at  once. 

It  was  noon  when  Eliezer  and  his  retinue,  together  with  Re¬ 
bekah  and  her  nurse  Deborah,  left  Haran,  and  in  three  hours 
they  were  at  Hebron. 

At  the  self-same  time  Isaac  was  abroad  in  the  fields,  return¬ 
ing  from  the  school  of  Seth,  lamenting  over  his  mother,  and  say¬ 
ing  his  evening  prayer.  Rebekah  saw  him  with  his  hands  out¬ 
spread,  and  his  angel  walking  behind  him,  and  she  said,  “  Who 
is  that  with  a  shining  countenance,  with  another  walking  be¬ 
hind  him  ?  ”  ~ 

At  the  same  moment  she  knew  who  it  was,  and  with  pro¬ 
phetic  vision  she  saw  that  she  would  become  the  mother  of 
Esau,  and  she  trembled  and  fell  from  the  camel. 

Isaac  took  Rebekah  to  wife  and  led  her  into  the  tent  of 
Sarah,  and  the  door  was  once  more  open,  and  the  perpetual 
lamp  was  again  kindled,  and  it  seemed  to  Isaac  as  if  all  the 
happiness  that  had  gone  with  Sarah,  had  returned  with  Rebek* 
ah,  so  he  was  comforted  for  his  mother. 

1  fieri,  xxiv.  34-49. 


A  BRA  HA  M 


*03 


Eliezer  was  reward  jcI  for  his  faithful  service,  for  Abraham 
gave  him  his  freedom,  md  he  was  taken  into  Paradise  without 
having  tasted  of  death. 


13.  THE  DEATH  OF  ABRAHAM. 

Abraham,  after  the  death  of  Sarah,  had  brought  back  Ha- 
gar,  and  she  wTas  called  Keturah,  which  signifies  “  the  Bond¬ 
woman,”  and  this  she  was  called  because  she  had  ever  regard¬ 
ed  herself  as  bound  to  Abraham,  though  he  had  cast  her  away. 
But  others  say  that  Keturah  was  not  Hagar,  but  was  a  daugh¬ 
ter  of  one  of  Abraham’s  slaves.  She  bare  him  six  sons,1  all 
strong,  and  men  of  clear  understandings. 

According  to  Mussulman  traditions,  she  was  the  daughter 
of  Jokdan,  and  was  a  Canaanitish  woman. 

Abraham  said  to  the  Most  High,  in  gratitude  of  heart, 
“Thou  didst  promise  me  one  son,  Isaac,  and  thou  hast  given 
me  many !  ” 

All  his  substance  he  gave  to  Isaac ;  but  some  say  he  gave 
him  a  double  portion  only,  and  the  rest  he  made  over  to  his 
other  sons.  And  to  Isaac  only  he  gave  the  right  to  be  buried 
in  the  cave  of  Machpelah,  and  along  with  that,  his  blessing. 
But  others  say  that  he  did  not  give  his  blessing  to  Isaac,  lest 
it  should  cause  jealousy  to  spring  up  between  him  and  his  broth¬ 
ers.  He  said,  “  1  am  a  mortal  man  ;  to-day  here  and  to-morrow 
in  the  grave ;  I  have  done  all  I  can  do  for  my  children,  and 
now  I  will  depart  when  it  pleases  my  heavenly  Father.” 

He  sent  the  sons  of  Keturah  away,  that  they  might  not 
dwell  near  Isaac,  lest  his  greatness  should  swallow  them  up ; 
and  he  built  them  a  city  of  iron,  with  walls  of  iron.  But  the 
wails  were  so  high  that  the  light  of  the  sun  could  not  penetrate 
the  streets,  therefore  he  set  in  them  diamonds  and  pearls  to 
illumine  the  iron  city. 

Epher,  a  grandson  of  Abraham  and  Keturah,2  went  with 
an  army  into  Libya  and  conquered  it,  and  founded  there  a 
kingdom,  and  the  land  he  called  after  his  own  name,  Africa. 

Abraham  was  alive  when  Rebekah,  after  twenty  years  of 
barrenness,  bare  to  Isaac  his  sons,  Esau  ^nd  Jacob;  and  he 
saw  them  grow  up  before  him  till  their  fifteenth  year,  and  he 
died  Qn  the  day  that  Esau  sold  his  birthright 

Gen.  xxv.  2. 


j 


*  Gen.  xxv.  4. 


204 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


The  days  of  his  life  had  been  175  years;  he  reached  not 
die  age  of  180,  to  which  Isaac  attained,  because  God  shortened 
his  life  by  five  years,  lest  he  should  know  the  evil  deeds  of 

Esau. 

The  Angel  of  Death  did  not  smite  him,  but  God  kissed  him, 
and  he  died  by  that  kiss  ;  and  because  the  sword  of  the  angel 
touched  him  not,  but  his  soul  parted  to  the  kiss  of  God,  his 
body  saw  no  corruption 

This  is  the  Mussulman  story  of  his  death.  The  Angel  of 
Death,  when  bidden  to  take  the  soul  of  the  prophet,  hesitated 
about  doing  so  without  his  consent.  So  he  took  upon  him  the 
form  of  a  very  old  man,  and  came  to  Abraham’s  door.  The 
patriarch  invited  him  in  and  gave  him  to  eat,  but  he  noted 
with  surprise  the  great  infirmity  of  the  old  man,  how  his  limbs 
tottered,  how  dull  was  his  sight,  and  how  incapable  he  was  of 
feeding  himself,  for  his  hands  shook,  and  how  little  he  could 
eat,  *br  his  teeth  were  gone.  And  he  asked  him  how  old  he 
was.  Then  the  angel  answered,  “I  am  202.”  Now  Abraham 
was  then  200  years  old.  So  he  said,  “  What !  in  two  years 
shall  I  be  as  feeble  and  helpless  as  this  ?  O  Lord,  suffer  me 
to  depart ;  now  send  the  Angel  of  Death  to  me,  to  remove 
my  soul.”  Then  the  angel  took  him,1  having  first  watched  till 
he  was  on  his  knees  in  prayer.2 

Isaac  and  Ishmael  buried  him  in  the  double  cave  by  the 
side  of  Sarah  ;  and  he  was  followed  to  his  grave  by  all  the  in¬ 
habitants  of  Canaan,  and  Shem  and  Eber  went  before  the  bier 
And  all  the  people  wailed  and  said,  “Woe  to  the  vessel  when 
the  pilot  is  gone  !  woe  to  the  pilgrims  when  their  guide  is  lost ! 9 

A  whole  year  was  Abraham  lamented  by  the  inhabitants 
of  the  land  ;  men,  and  women,  and  young  children  joined  in 
bewailing  him. 

Never  was  there  a  man  like  Abraham  in  perfect  righteous¬ 
ness,  serving  God,  and  walking  in  His  way  from  the  earliesl 
youth  to  the  day  of  his  death. 

4braham  was  the  first,  say  the  Mussulmans,  whose  beard 
became  white.  He  asked  God  when  it  became  so,  “  What  is 
this  ?  The  Lord  replied,  “  It  is  a  teken  of  gentleness,  mj 
son.” 


1  Tabari,  L  c.  Itii. 


*  Well.  p.  08 


MELCHIZEDEK \ 


90S 


XXV. 


MELCHIZEDEK. 

We  have  seen  that,  according  to  Jewish  traditions,  Melchiz- 
edek  is  Shem,  the  son  of  Noah,  whom  God  consecrated  to  be 
a  priest  forever,  and  who  set  up  a  kingdom  on  Salem.1 

It  is  also  said  that,  before  he  died,  Lamech  ordered  his  son, 
Noah,  to  transport  the  body  of  Adam  to  the  centre  of  the  earth. 
Now  the  centre  or  navel  of  the  earth  is  Salem,  afterwards  called 
Jerusalem. 

Lamech  also  bade  Noah  confide  to  one  of  his  children  the 
custody  of  the  body  of  Adam,  obliging  him  to  remain  all  his 
life  in  the  service  of  God,  and  in  the  practice  of  celibacy,  never 
to  shed  blood,  and  to  offer  to  God  only  the  sacrifice  of  bread 
and  wine. 

Noah  chose,  according  to  some,  Shem  ;  according  to  others, 
Melchizedek,  the  son  of  Shem.  He  did  not  suffer  him  to  wear 
other  garments  than  the  skins  of  beasts  ;  nor  to  shave  his  head 
nor  cut  his  nails,  nor  to  build  a  house. 

A  Christian  tradition  is  that  Adam  was  buried  on  Golgotha, 
and  that  when  Christ  died,  His  blood  flowed  down  upon  the 
head  of  Adam,  and  cleansed  him  of  his  sin. 

Dom  Calmet,  in  one  of  his  dissertations,  gives  various  cu¬ 
rious  opinions  which  have  been  entertained  on  the  subject  of 
Melchizedek :  some  affirmed  that  he  was  identical  with  the  pa¬ 
triarch  Enoch,  who  came  from  the  Terrestrial  Paradise  to  con¬ 
fer  with  Abraham  ;  and  others,  that  the  Magi  who  adored  the 
infant  Christ  were  Enoch,  Melchizedek,  and  Elias. 

And  some  have  supposed  that  Melchizedek  was  created 
before  Adam,  and  was  of  celestial  race.  Others  again  haw? 
supposed  that  he  was  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  who  appeared  to 
Abraham. 

S.  Athanasius  gives  a  curious  tradition  of  Melchizedek. 

A  queen,  named  Salem,  had  a  grandson  named  Melchi 
He  was  an  idolater.  Where  he  reigned  is  unknown;  but  it  is 
supposed  that  it  was  where  now  stands  the  cfty  Jerusalem. 
Melchi  married  a  princess  named  Salem,  like  his  grandmother. 
« 

1  This  the  Targumim,  or  pharaphrases  of  the  Sacred  Text,  distinctly 
say,  “Melchizedek,  who  was  Shem,  son  of  Noah,  king  of  Jerusalem/ 
(Etheridge,  i  p.  199.) 


*o6 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


By  her  he  had  two  sons,  of  whom  the  younger  was  called  Mel¬ 
chizedek. 

One  day  that  Melchi  was  about  to  sacrifice  to  idols,  he  said 
to  his  son  Melchizedek,  “  Bring  me  here  seven  calves  to  sacri¬ 
fice  to  the  gods.” 

Whilst  going  to  execute  his  father’s  order,  Melchizedek 
raised  his  eyes  to  heaven  and  said,  “  He  who  made  heaven  ami 
earth,  the  sea  and  the  stars,  is  the  only  God  to  whom  sacrifice 
should  be  offered.” 

Then  he  returned  to  his  father,  who  asked  him,  “  Where 
are  the  calves  ?  ” 

“  My  father,”  he  replied,  “  hearken  to  me,  and  be  not  angry. 
Instead  of  offering  thy  victims  to  those  gods  which  are  no  gods, 
offer  them  to  Him  who  is  above  the  heavens,  and  who  rules 
all  things.” 

King  Melchi  replied,  “  Go  and  do  what  I  have  commanded 
thee,  as  thou  vainest  thy  life.” 

After  that  he  turned  to  his  wife  Salem,  and  he  told  her  that 
he  purposed  sacrificing  one  of  his  sons.  The  queen  wept  bit¬ 
terly,  because  she  knew  that  the  king  designed  the  immolation 
of  Melchizedek,  and  she  said,  “  Alas  !  I  have  suffered  and  la¬ 
bored  in  vain.” 

“  Do  not  weep,”  said  Melchi,  somewhat  touched.  “  We  will 
draw  the  lot :  if  it  is  mine,  I  will  choose  which  of  the  sons  is  to 
die  ;  if  it  be  thine,  thou  shalt  keep  the  one  dearest  to  thee.” 

Now  the  lot  fell  to  the  queen,  so  she  chose  Melchizedek, 
whom  she  Loved  :  and  the  king  adorned  his  eldest  son  for 
sacrifice. 

There  were  in  the  temple  troops  of  oxen  and  flocks  of  sheep 
and  five  hundred  and  three  children,  destined  by  their  parents 
to  be  sacrificed.  The  queen  was  at  home  weeping,  and  she 
said  to  Melchizedek,  “  Dost  thou  not  weep  for  thy  brother, 
whom  we  have  brought  up  with  so  much  care,  and  who  is  led 
to  the  slaughter  ?  ” 

Melchizedek  wept,  and  he  said  to  his  mother,  “  I  will  go 
and  invoke  the  Lord,  the  only  true  God  Most  High.” 

He  ascended  Tabor,  and  kneeling  down,  he  prayed,  saying, 
“  My  God,  Lord  of  all,  Creator  of  heaven  and  earth,  I  adore 
Thee  as  the  only  true  God ;  hearken  now  unto  my  prayer.  May 
the  earth  open  her  mouth  and  swallow  up  all  those  who  assist 
at  the  sacrifice  of  my  brother  !  ” 

God  heard  the  cry  of  Melchizedek,  and  the  earth  ] jarred 
asunder  and  swallowed  up  the  temple  and  all  who  \sere  there- 


MELCHIZEDEK. 


207 


inland  the  city  of  Salem  also,  and  not  a  stone  was  left  stand¬ 
ing  where  it  had  been. 

When  Melchizedek  came  down  from  Tabor,  and  saw  what 
God  had  done,  he  was  filled  with  dismay,  and  retired  into  a 
forest,  where  he  spent  seven  years,  feeding  011  herbs  and 
drinking  the  dew. 

At  the  end  of  that  time,  a  voice  from  heaven  called  Abra¬ 
ham,  and  said,  “Take  thine  ass,  lade  it  with  rich  garments,  go 
to  Tabor  and  cry  thrice,  O  man  of  God  !  Then  a  man  of  a 
savage  appearance  will  come  forth  to  thee  out  of  the  forest. 
And  after  thou  hast  cut  his  hair  and  pared  his  nails,  clothe 
him  with  the  garments  thou  hast  taken  with  thee,  and  ask  him 
to  bless  thee.” 

Abraham  did  as  he  was  bidden.  He  went  to  Tabor  and 
called  thrice,  “  O  man  of  God  !  ”  and  there  came  out  to  him 
Melchizedek.  Then  a  voice  was  heard  from  heaven,  which 
said,  “  As  there  remains  no  one  on  earth  of  the  family  of 
Melchizedek,  it  shall  be  said  of  him  that  he  is  without  father 
and  without  mother,  without  beginning  of  days  or  end  of  life.” 

Therefore  it  is  said  of  him,  as  of  Enoch  and  Elias,  that  hav¬ 
ing  been  created  a  priest  forever,  he  is  not  dead. 

Afterwards  he  is  said  to  have  founded  Jerusalem.1 

Suidas  the  Grammarian  gives  the  following  account  of  this 
mysterious  personage. 

“  Melchizedek,  priest  of  God,  king  of  Canaan,  built  a  city 
on  a  mountain  called  Sion,  and  named  it  Salem ;  which  is  the 
same  as  Eipr/vo7toXiS,  the  City  of  Peace.  In  which,  when  he 
had  reigned  a  hundred  and  thirteen  years,  he  died,  righteous 
and  single.  For  this  reason  he  is  said  to  have  been  without 
generation,  because  he  was  not  of  the  seed  of  Abraham,  but  of 
the  race  of  Canaan,  and  of  abhorred  seed.  Therefore  he  was 
without  honorable  generation.  Nor  did  it  beseem  him,  the 
essence  of  all  righteousness,  to  unite  with  the  race  of  all  un¬ 
righteousness.  Therefore  he  is  said  to  have  been  without  fa¬ 
ther  or  mother.  But  that  he  was  a  Caananite,  both  as  to  coun¬ 
try,  of  which  he  was  lord ;  and  as  to  nation,  of  which  he  was 
king :  and  as  to  neighborhood,  joining  that  of  the  iniquitous  Sod¬ 
omites, — that  is  evident  enough.  Nevertheless  Salem,  of  which 
he  was  king,  is  that  celebrated  Jerusalem,  which,  however,  did 
not  bear  then  the  complete  name  of  Hierusalem,  but  the  ad- 

1  Fabricius,  Codex  Pseud.  V.  T.  t.  i.  p.  31 1.  The  Book  of  the  Combat 
of  Adam  says  Nelchizedek  ^yas  the  son  of  Canaan. 


208 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


jective  ispou  was  added  to  ISaTujju  afterwards,  and  compounded 
into  Hierusalem.  And  because  no  genealogy  is  given  to  him, 
he  is  said  to  be  without  father  and  mother.  Therefore,  when 
you  hear  him  spoken  of  as  God,  by  the  sect  of  the  Melchize- 
dekites,  remember  the  saying  of  the  Apostle,  that  he  was  of 
another  race,  to  wit,  that  of  Canaan.” 1 

Another  apocryphal  account  of  Melchizedek  is  in  the 
“  Chronicon  Paschale  :  ” — 

“A  certain  ancient  relates  and  affirms,  concerning  Melchiz¬ 
edek,  this.  He  was  a  man  of  the  tribe  of  Ham,  who,  being 
found  a  holy  seed  in  his  tribe,  pleased  God ;  and  God  called 
him  into  the  land  beyond  Jordan,  even  as  He  called  Abraham 
out  of  the  land  of  the  Chaldeans.  And  as  this  man  was  holy 
and  just,  he  was  made  a  priest  of  the  Most  High  God,  to  offer 
bread  and  wine,  and  holy  prayers  to  the  Most  High  God.  He 
prayed  for  his  tribe,  saying,  Lord,  thou  hast  brought  me  from 
my  own  people,  and  hast  had  mercy  on  me ;  have  mercy  on 
them  also.  But  God  answered  him,  and  said,  I  will  save  them 
when  I  call  my  Son  out  of  Egypt.  This  promise  God  gave  to 
Melchizedek.  The  same  ancient  relates  also  that  at  this  time 
it  happened  that  Lot  was  carried  away  captive  from  Sodom  by 
those  who  were  of  the  tribe  Gothologomos,  whom  Abraham 
pursued  and  destroyed,  and  he  liberated  all  the  captives ;  and 
Lot  also,  the  son  of  his  brother  Aram,  he  delivered  from  their 
hands.  Therefore  Abraham  said  within  himself,  Lord,  if  in  my 
days  Thou  sendest  Thy  angel  upon  the  earth,  grant  me  to  see 
that  day  !  The  Lord  said,  It  cannot  be,  but  I  will  show  thee 
a  figure  of  that  day;  go  down  and  cross  the  river  Jordan  and 
thou  shalt  behold  it. 

“Therefore  Abraham  crossed  Jordan  with  his  men,  and 
Melchizedek  came  forth  to  meet  him,  called  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  having  in  his  hands  the  bread  of  Eucharists  and  the 
wine  of  thanksgiving.  Abraham  did  not  see  Melchizedek  till 
he  had  passed  over  Jordan,  which  is  the  symbol  of  Baptism. 

“  Abraham  then,  seeing  Melchizedek  coming  to  meet  him 
having  the  bread  of  Eucharists  and  the  cup  of  thanksgiving, 
fell  on  his  face  upon  the  earth,  and  adored,  since  he  saw  the 
day  of  the  Lord,  and  was  glad. 

“  Melchizedek,  king  of  Salem,  priest  of  the  Most  High 
God,  blessed  Abraham  and  said.  Blessed  be  Abram  of  the  Most 
High  God,  possessor  of  heaven  and  earth  ;  and  blessed  be  the, 

1  Saidas.  Lexic.  s.  v. 


MELCHIZEDEK. 


109 

Most  High  God ,  which  hath  delivered  thine  enemies  into  thy 
hands.  And  Abraham  gave  him  tithes  of  all.”  1 

Michael  Glycas  says:  “  Melchizedek,  though  he  is  said  in 
the  Sacred  Scriptures  to  have  been  without  father  and  mother, 
yet  sprung  from  Sidos,  son  of  ^Egyptos,  who  built  Sidon. 
When  he  had  built  a  city  on  Mount  Sion,  named  Salem,  he 
reigned  there  thirteen  years,  and  died  a  just  man  and  a  vir¬ 
gin.” 2  And  Cedrenus :  “Melchizedek  was  the  son  of  King 
Sidos,  son  of  yEgyptos,  but  he  was  said  to  be  without  father 
and  mother  and  of  uncertain  generation,  because  he  was  not 
of  Jewish  extraction,  and  because  his  parents  were  bad  and 
not  reckoned  among  the  righteous.”  3 4 * 

Joseph  P>en-Gorion  writes:  “O  Jerusalem!  once  the  city 
of  the  great  King,  by  what  name  shall  I  designate  thee  ?  An¬ 
ciently  thou  wast  called  Jebus,  after  thy  founder  ;  then  thou 
didst  acquire  the  name  of  Zedek,  and  from  thence  did  thy 
king  Jehoram  take  his  title  Melchi-zedek  (or  Melech-zedek, 
Lord  of  Zedek),  for  he  was  a  just  king,  and  he  reigned  in  thee 
justly.  And  thou  didst  obtain  the  name  of  Justice,  and  in 
thee  justice  dwelt,  and  the  star  that  did  illumine  thee ;  thou 
wast  called  Zedek,  and  in  the  same  king’s  reign,  to  thee  was 
given  the  title  Salem,  as  it  is  written  in  the  Law .  and  Mel¬ 
chizedek  was  king  of  Salem,  so  called  because  thus  the  meas¬ 
ure  of  the  iniquity  of  the  people  was  accomplished.  But  Abra¬ 
ham,  our  father,  of  pious  memory,  chose  thee,  to  labor  in  thee 
and  to  acquire  in  thee  a  possession,  and  in  thee  to  lay  a  root 
of  good  works,  and  because  the  majesty  of  God  dwelt  in  thee, 
when  Abraham,  our  father,  flourished.”  ‘ 

S.  Epiphanius,  however,  says:  “Although  no  names  of  the 
parents  of  Melchizedek  are  given,  yet  some  assert  that  his  fa¬ 
ther  was  called  Heraclas,  and  his  mother  Astaroth,  or  As- 
teria.”  6  The  “  Catena  Arabica  ”  on  Genesis  sa)  s  :  “  Melchiz¬ 
edek  was  the  son  of  Heraclis,  the  son  of  Peleg,  the  son  of 
Eber  ;  and  the  name  of  his  mother  was  Salathiel,  the  daughter 
of  Gomer,  the  son  of  Japheth,  the  son  of  Noah.” 

1  TladxdXiov,  seu  Chronicon  Paschale  a  mundo  condito  ad  Heracli: 
imp.  ann.  vicesimum.  Ed.  C.  au  Fresne  du  Cange  ;  Paris,  1688,  p.  49. 

9  Michael  Glycas,  BiflXoS  ypoviurj,  ed.  Labbe ;  Paris,  1660,  p.  135. 

t  Georgius  Cedrenus,  Si  voipiv  idropicov,  ed.  Goar;  Paris,  1647.  t 

L  p.  27. 

4  Josephus  Ben-Gorion,  lib.  vi.  c  35.  apud  Fabricium.  L  p.  326. 

4  S.  Epiphanius  Haeresi,  lv.  c.  2 


no 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


Melchizedek  is  said  to  have  composed  the  cx.  Psalm,  Dixit 
Do  minus.1 

The  tomb  of  Melchizedek  is,  or  was,  shown  at  Jerusalem, 
says  Gemelli  Carrere,  the  traveller  in  Palestine. 


XXVI. 

OF  ISHMAEL  AND  THE  WELL  ZEMZEM. 

The  Arabs  call  Hagar,  Hagiar  AnaT,  the  mother  in  chief, 
because  of  Ishmael  her  son.  They  do  net  suppose  that  she 
was  the  bond-servant  of  Sarah,  but  that  she  was  the  legitimate 
wife  of  the  patriarch ;  and  she  bore  him  Ishmael,  who,  as  his 
eldest  son,  had  the  birthright,  and  obtained,  as  his  double 
portion  of  Abraham’s  inheritance,  the  land  of  Arabia,  whereas 
to  Isaac  was  given  the  inferior  land  of  Canaan. 

They  say  that  Hagar  died  at  Mecca,  and  that  she  was  bur¬ 
ied  in  the  exterior  enclosure  of  the  Kaaba,  or  square  temple, 
built,  say  they,  by  Abraham. 

Near  the  tomb  is  the  well  of  Zemzem,  which  is  the  foun¬ 
tain  which  God  revealed  to  her  when  she  had  been  driven  out 
of  the  house  of  Sarah,  and  had  fled  into  Arabia. 

As  has  been  already  mentioned,  the  Mussulmans  say  that 
it  was  Ishmael  and  not  Isaac  whom  Abraham  prepared  to  sac¬ 
rifice.  The  story  need  not  be  related  again,  as  all  the  partic 
ulars  in  the  Jewish  legends  are  absorbed  into  the  Mussulman 
account. 

One  particular  alone  needs  mention.  Gabriel  gave  the 
ram  to  Abraham  in  the  place  where  Mussulman  pilgrims  now 
cast  stones ;  namely,  on  the  mountain  of  Mina.  But  the  ram 
escaped  out  of  the  hands  of  Abraham,  and  the  patriarch  threw 
seven  stones  after  it.  Then  Ishmael  went  forward,  and  the 
ram  halted.  Ishmael  went  up  to  the  ram  and  brought  it  to 
Abraham,  and  he  took  it,  and  slew  it.  Some  say  that  this 
was  the  same  ram  that  Abd  had  offered  in  sacrifice,  and  which 
had  been  preserved  in  Paradise.2 

Then  God  said  to  Abraham,  “  Go  to  Mecca  along  with 
Ishmael,  and  build  me  the  temple  there.” 

At  Mecca  had  been  the  “  Visited-house,”  to  which  Adam 
went  in  pilgrimage,  and  round  which  he  walked  in  procession 

1  Talmud,  Tract.  Bava  Bathra.  *  Tabari,  i.  c.  liii. 


ISHMAEL. 


an 


every  year.  When  the  Flood  came,  this  house  had  been  caught 
up  into  heaven. 

When  Abraham  went  in  obedience  to  the  command  of  God 
to  visit  Ishmael,  and  to  call  him  to  build  the  temple,  he  found 
him  on  a  mountain  engaged  in  making  arrows.  He  said  to 
him,  “  O  my  son,  God  has  ordered  me  to  build  a  house  along 
with  thee.” 

Ishmael  replied,  “  I  am  ready  to  obey,  O  my  father.” 

Then  they  prepared  to  build.  But  Abraham  knew  r:othtr,g 
of  architecture. 

God  sent  a  cloud  of  the  size  of  the  Kaaba,  to  5  how  them, 
by  its  shadow  on  the  ground,  what  were  to  be  the  dimensions 
of  the  house,  and  to  give  them  shade  in  which  to  build. 

But  some  say  that  the  Serpent  arrived  and  instructed  Abra¬ 
ham  in  the  proportions  of  the  house.  After  that,  Abraham 
and  Ishmael  began  to  dig  the  trenches  which  were  to  receive 
the  foundations ;  and  they  gave  them  the  depth  of  a  man’s 
stature.  Then  they  raised  them  to  the  level  of  the  soil ;  after 
that,  they  cut  stones  out  of  the  neighboring  rocks  for  the  walls 
of  the  edifice.  Abraham  built,  and  Ishmael  handed  the  stones. 
Now,  when  the  wall  got  above  his  reach,  Abraham  placed  a 
stone  on  the  ground,  and  stood  upon  that  to  build,  and  he  left 
thereon  the  impression  of  his  foot.  The  stone  remains  to  this 
day,  and  is  called  Makam  Ibrahim. 

And  when  the  temple  was  built,  God  sent  Gabriel  to  instruct 
Abraham  in  all  the  rights  of  pilgrimage,  and  how  to  visit  Mina 
and  Mount  Arafat,  and  how  to  go  procession  ally  round  the 
Kaapa,  and  to  cast  the  stones,  and  to  wear  the  pilgrim’s  dress, 
and  to  make  sacrifice,  and  to  shave  the  head,  to  visit  the  holy 
places,  and  all  that  concerns  the  pilgrimage. 

That  same  year  Abraham  made  the  pilgrimage,  and  he  con¬ 
fided  the  care  of  the  temple  to  Ishmael,  his  son,  and  he  said 
to  him,  “This  land  belongs  to  thee  and  to  thy  children  till  the 
Judgment  Day.” 

Then  Abraham,  turning  him  about,  went  at  God’?  com¬ 
mand  to  the  top  of  a  high  mountain,  and  cried,  “  O  men  God 
has  built  you  a  house,  and  He  calls  you  to  visit  it.” 

And  all  men  and  women,  and  the  children  yet  unborn,  an¬ 
swered  from  every  quarter  of  the  world,  “We  will  visit  it.” 

Then  Abraham  returned  into  Syria.1 

1  Tabari  ;  Weil,  Abulfeda,  pp.  25-27,  etc. 


212 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


Now  the  well  of  Zemzem  was  formed  when  Hagar  anJ 
Ishmael  were  in  the  desert.  The  angel  Gabriel  trod  in  the 
ground  and  the  water  bubbled  up.  At  first  it  was  sweet  as 
honey,  and  as  nourishing  as  milk.  This  well  is  one  of  ihe 
wonders  of  Mecca.  We  shall  relate  more  of  it  presently. 

And  the  stone  that  was  white  and  shining,  but  now  is  black, 
that  stone  was  an  angel  who  wept  over  the  sins  of  men  till  he 
has  grown  dark  ;  that  also  is  one  of  the  wonders  of  Mecca. 

Whilst  Ishmael  was  engaged  one  day  in  building  the  Kaaba, 
there  came  to  him  Alexander  the  Two-horned,  and  asked  him 
what  he  was  doing. 

Ihen  Abraham  answered,  “We  build  a  temple  to  the  only 
God  in  whom  we  believe.”  And  Alexander  knew  that  he  was 
a  prophet  of  God  ;  and  he  went  on  foot  seven  times  round  the 
temple. 

About  this  Alexander  authorities  differ.  Some  say  that  he 
was  a  Greek,  and  that  he  was  lord  of  the  whole  earth  as  Nim¬ 
rod  was  before  him,  and  as  Soloman  was  after  him. 

Alexander  was  lord  of  light  and  darkness;  when  he  went 
forth  with  his  hosts,  he  had  light  before  him,  and  behind  him 
was  darkness :  thus  he  could  overtake  his  enemies,  but  could 
not  be  overtaken  by  them.  He  had  also  two  banners,  one 
white  and  the  other  black,  and  when  he  unfurled  the  white  one, 
it  was  instantly  broad  day ;  and  when  he  unfurled  the  blaok 
one,  it  was  instantly  midnight.  Thus  he  could  have  day  in  the 
darkest  night,  and  night  in  the  brighest  day. 

He  was  also  unconquerable ;  for  he  could,  at  will,  make  his 
army  invisible,  and  fall  upon  his  enemies  and  destroy  them, 
without  their  being  able  to  see  who  were  opposed  to  them.  He 
went  through  the  whole  world  in  quest  of  the  Fountain  of  Im¬ 
mortality,  of  which,  as  he  read  in  his  sacred  books,  a  descend¬ 
ant  of  Shem  was  pre-ordained  to  drink,  and  become  immortal. 

But  his  vizir  A1  Hidhr 1  lighted  on  the  fountain  before  him 
and  drank,  not  knowing  what  were  the  virtues  of  this  spring ; 
and  when  Alexander  came  afterwards,  the  water  had  sunk 
away,  for  by  God’s  command  only  one  man  was  destined  to 
drink  thereof. 

Alexander  was  called  the  Two-horned,  according  to  some, 
because  he  went  through  the  world  from  one  end  to  the  other ; 

1  Or  El  Khoudr  he  is  identified  in  Arab  legend  with  S.  George  and 
Elias. 


1SHMAEL. 


213 


according  to  others,  because  he  wore  two  long  locks  of  hair 
which  stood  up  like  hor.ns  ;  according  to  others,  because  he 
had  two  gold  horns  on  his  crown  which  symbolized  the  king¬ 
doms  of  Grecia  and  Persia  over  which  he  reigned.  But  ac¬ 
cording  to  others,  he  once  dreamed  that  he  had  got  so  nea^ 
to  the  sun,  that  he  caught  it  by  its  two  ends,  and  therefore  he 
was  given  his  name. 

Learned  men  are  also  equally  disagreed  as  to  the  time  in 
which  he  lived,  and  as  to  the  place  of  his  birth  and  residence. 

Most  think  that  there  were  two  Alexanders.  One  was  de¬ 
scended  from  Shem,  and  went  with  El  Khoudr  to  the  end  of 
the  world  after  the  Fountain  of  Immortality,  and  who  was 
ordered  by  God  to  build  an  indestructible  wall  against  the 
incursions  of  the  children  of  Gog  and  Magog.  The  other  Alex¬ 
ander  was  the  son  of  Philip  of  Macedon,  and  was  descended 
from  Japheth,  and  was  the  pupil  of  Aristotle  at  Athens.1 

And  now  let  us  return  to  the  fountain  or  well  of  Zemzem, 
and  relate  what  befel  that. 

Nabajoth,  the  eldest  son  of  Ishmael,  succeeded  his  father 
in  the  custody  of  the  Kaaba,  of  the  tombs  of  Adam  and  Eve, 
of  the  stone  and  the  well.  But  having  left  only  very  young 
children  to  succeed  him,  Madad-ben-Amron,  their  maternal 
grandfather,  took  charge  of  their  education,  and  at  the  same 
time  became  the  protector  of  the  Kaaba  and  of  the  well  of 
Zemzem. 

The  children  of  Nabajoth  when  they  grew  old,  would  not 
contest  with  their  foster-father  the  possession  of  the  Holy 
places,  therefore  it  remained  to  him  and  his  sons  till  the  time 
when  the  Giorhamides  took  them  by  violence. 

Then  the  posterity  of  Ishmael  having  attacked  them,  de¬ 
feated  them,  and  recovered  the  city  and  temple  of  Mecca. 
But  the  stone,  and  the  two  gazelles  of  gold  which  a  king 
of  Arabia  had  given  to  the  Kaaba,  had  been  lost,  for  they 
had  been  thrown  into  the  well  of  Zemzem,  which  had  been 
filled  up. 

The  well  remained  choked  and  unregarded  till  the  times 
of  Abd-el-Motalleb,  grandfather  of  Mohammed,  who  one  day 
heard  a  voice  bid  him  dig  the  well  of  Zemzem. 

Abd-el-Motalleb  asked  the  voice  what  Zemzem  was. 

Then  the  voice  replied  :  “  It  is  the  well  that  sprang  up  to 


1  Weil,  pp.  94 — 6. 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


214 

nourish  Ishmael  in  the  desert,  whereof  he  and  his  children 
drank/’ 

Abd-el-Motalleb,  not  knowing  whereabouts  to  dig,  asked 
further,  and  the  voice  answered,  “The  well  of  Zemzem  is 
near  two  idols  of  the  Koraischites  named  Assaf  and  Nad  ah  \ 
dig  on  the  spot  where  you  shall  see  a  magpie  pecking  in  the 
ground  and  turning  up  a  nest  of  ants.” 

Abd-el-Motalleb  set  about  obeying  the  voice,  in  spite  of  the 
opposition  of  the  Koraischites,  who  objected  to  the  overthrow 
of  their  idols.  However,  he  dug,  along  with  his  ten  sons,  and 
he  vowed  that  if  God  would  show  him  the  water,  he  would 
sacrifice  one  of  his  sons.  And  when  he  came  to  water,  he 
found  the  gazelles  of  gold  and  the  Black  Stone. 

Then  he  summoned  his  children  before  him  and  told  them 
his  vow.  And  he  drew  lots  which  of  them  should  die,  and 
the  lot  fell  on  Abd-Allah,  the  father  of  the  prophet. 

Then  said  Abd-el-Motalleb,  “  I  am  in  a  great  strait ;  how 
shall  I  perform  my  vow  ?  ”  For  he  loved  Abd-Allah  best  of 
his  ten  sons.  Now  the  mother  of  Abd-Allah  belonged  to  the 
family  of  Benu-Zora,  which  is  one  of  the  chief  in  Mecca. 

The  Benu-Zora  family  assembled  and  said,  “  We  will  not 
suffer  you  to  slay  your  son.”  But  he  said,  “  1  must  perform 
my  vow.”  Then  he  consulted  two  Jewish  astrologers,  who  said, 
'*  Go,  and  put  on  one  side  your  child,  and  on  the  other  your 
camel,  and  draw  the  lot ;  and  if  the  lot  fall  on  Abd-Allah,  add 
a  second  camel  to  the  first,  and  draw  the  lot  again,  and  con¬ 
tinue  adding  camels  till  the  lot  falls  on  them  ;  then  you  will 
know  how  many  camels  will  be  accepted  by  God  as  an  equiva¬ 
lent  for  your  son.” 

He  did  so,  and  he  put  one  camel,  then  two,  then  three,  up 
to  fifty.  The  lot  fell  on  Abd-Allah  up  to  the  ninety-ninth 
camel ;  but  when  Abd-el-Motalleb  had  added  the  hundreth 
then  the  lot  fell  on  those  animals,  and  he  knew  that  they  weie 
accepted  in  place  of  his  son,  and  he  sacrificed  them  to  the 
Lord ;  and  this  custom  has  continued  among  the  Arabs,  to 
redeem  a  man  who  is  to  be  sacrificed  by  one  hundred  camels.1 

Now  when  the  Koraischites  saw  what  Abd-el-Motalleb  had 
drawn  from  the  well,  they  demanded  a  share  of  the  treasure 
he  had  found.  But  he  refused  it,  saying  that  all  belonged  to 
the  temple  that  Abraham  and  Ishmael  had  built 


9  Tabari,  i.  p.  18 1. 


ESAU  AND  JACOB. 


**5 

To  decide  this  quarrel,  they  agreed  to  consult  a  dervish 
who  dwelt  on  the  confines  of  Syria,  and  passed  for  a  prophet. 
It  fell  out  that,  on  the  way,  Abd-el-Motalleb,  exhausted  with 
thirst,  was  obliged  to  ask  water  of  the  Koraischites,  but  they 
fearing  that  they  would  not  have  enough  for  themselves,  were 
obliged  to  refuse. 

Then,  from  the  ground  pressed  by  the  foot  of  the  camel  of 
Abd  el-Motalleb,  a  fountain  gushed  forth,  which  quenched  the 
thirst  of  himself  and  of  those  who  had  refused  to  give  him  wa¬ 
ter,  and  they,  seeing  the  miracle,  recognized  him  as  a  prophet 
sent  from  God,  and  they  relinquished  their  pretensions  to  the 
well  of  Zemzem. 

And  when  the  well  was  cleared  out,  Abd-el-Motalleb  gave 
to  the  temple  of  the  Kaaba  the  two  gazelles  of  gold,  and  all 
the  silver,  and  the  arms  and  precious  things  he  found  in  the 
well.  For  long,  Mecca  was  supplied  with  water  from  the  well 
of  Zemzem  alone,  till  the  concourse  of  pilgrims  became  so 
great,  that  the  Khalifs  were  obliged  to  construct  an  aqueduct 
to  bring  abundance  of  water  into  the  city. 

Mohammed,  to  honor  the  town  of  Mecca,  where  he  was 
born,  gave  great  praise  to  the  water  of  the  well.  It  is  believed 
among  the  Arabs  that  a  draught  of  that  water  gives  health,  and 
that  to  drink  much  thereof  washes  away  sin.  It  is  related  of  a 
certain  Mussulman  teacher,  who  knew  a  great  many  traditions, 
that,  having  been  interrogated  on  his  memory,  he  replied, 
“  Since  I  have  drunk  long  draughts  of  the  water  of  Zemzem,  I 
have  forgotten  nothing  that  I  learnt.” 

To  conclude  what  we  have  to  say  of  Ishmael. 

He  had  a  daughter  named  Basemath,  whom  he  married  to 
Esau,  and  many  sons ;  two,  Nabajoth  and  Kedar,  were  his 
sons  who  dwelt  in  Mecca.  He  was  a  hundred  and  thirty  years 
old  when  he  died,  and  he  was  buried  at  Mecca,  after  having 
appointed  Isaac  his  executor. 


XXVIL 

ESAU  AND  JACOB. 

There  are  few  Oriental  traditions,  whether  Rabbinic  or 
Mussulman,  concerning  Isaac’s  life  after  he  was  married  and 


; 


2l6 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


his  father  died.  Those  touching  his  birth,  early  life,  and  mar¬ 
riage,  have  been  given  in  the  article  on  Abraham. 

We  proceed  therefore,  tc  his  history  as  connected  with  Esau 
and  Jacob. 

Isaac,  says  Tabari,  lived  a  hundred  years  after  Ishmac. 
God  granted  him  the  gift  of  prophecy,  and  sent  him  to  the  in¬ 
habitants  of  Syria,  in  the  country  of  Canaan,  for  he  could  not 
change  his  place  of  abode  on  account  of  his  blindness ;  for 
Abimelech  had  wished  him  to  be  dim  of  sight,  because  Abra¬ 
ham  had  deceived  him  by  saying,  “Sarah  is  my  sister;”  and, 
say  the  Rabbis,  Isaac's  eyes  were  made  dim  by  the  tears  of 
the  angels  falling  into  them  as  he  was  stretched  upon  the  altar 
by  his  father  ;  or  because  he  had  then  looked  upon  the  Throne 
of  God,  and  had  been  dazzled  thereby. 

But  others  say  he  went  blind  through  grief  and  tears  at  his 
son  Esau  having  taken  four  Canaanitish  women  to  wife. 

Isaac  had  two  sons,  twins,  by  Rebekah  his  wife — Esau  and 
Jacob. 

The  Cabbalists  say  that  the  soul  of  Esau,  whom  the  Arabs 
call  Ais,  passed  into  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ  by  metempsy¬ 
chosis,  and  that  Jesus  and  Esau  are  one;  and  this  they  at¬ 
tempt  to  prove  by  showing  that  the  Hebrew  letters  composing 
the  name  of  Jesus  are  the  same  as  those  of  which  Esau  is  com¬ 
pounded.1 

The  following  curious  story  is  told  of  the  brothers  by  the 
Rabbi  Eliezer  : — “  It  is  said  that  when  Jacob  and  Esau  were 
in  their  mother’s  womb,  Jacob  said  to  Esau,  ‘  My  brother, 
there  are  two  worlds  before  us,  this  world  and  the  world  to 
come.  In  this  world,  men  eat,  and  drink,  and  traffic,  and  mar¬ 
ry,  and  bring  up  sons  and  daughters ;  but  all  this  does  not 
take  place  in  the  world  to  come.  If  you  like,  take  this  world, 
and  I  will  take  the  other.’  And  Esau  denied  that  theie  was  a 
resurrection  of  the  dead,  and  said,  ‘  Behold  1  am  at  the  point  to 
die;  a?id  what  profit  shall  this  birthright  do  to  me  l  ’  And  he 
gave  over  to  Jacob  in  that  hour  his  right  to  the  other  world.”  3 
Therefore  Esau  and  his  descendants  have  no  part  or  lot  id 
Paradise,  and  none  are  admitted  there.3 

It  is  also  said  that  the  religious  predilections  of  the  children 
were  developed  before  they  were  born.  On  the  words  of  Gen- 

1  Maschmia  Jeschua,  fol.  19,  col.  4. 

9  Nezach  Israel,  fol.  25,  col.  3. 

8  Eisenmenger,  ii.  pp.  260,  304. 


ESAU  AND  JACOB. 


217 


esis,  “  The  children  struggled  together  within  her”  1  a  Rabbinic 
commentator  says  that  when  Rebekah  passed  before  a  syna¬ 
gogue,  then  Jacob  made  great  efforts  to  escape  into  the  world, 
that  he  might  attend  the  synagogue,  and  this  is  the  meaning  of 
the  words  of  the  prophet  Jeremiah,  when  God  says  of  Jacob), 
Before  thou  earnest  forth  out  of  the  womb  I  sanctified  thee:”' 
But  whenever  she  went  before  an  idol  temple,  Esau  became 
excited,  and  desired  to  come  forth.3 

When  Esau  was  born,  he  had  on  his  heel  the  likeness  of  a 
serpent,  and  his  name  indicates  that  he  was  closely  connected 
with  Satan  (Sammael  ;  for,  says  the  Rabbi  Isaiah,  if  you  write 
the  name  Sammael  in  Hebrew  characters,  you  will  find  it  to 
be  identical  with  that  of  Esau ;  for  the  four  letters  of  Esau 
turned  one  way  make  Sammael,  and  turned  another  way  make 
Edom.4  Esau  had  also  a  serpent  in  his  inside  coiled  in  his 
bowels.4 

Esau  was  called  Edom,  or  Red,  because,  say  some,  he 
sucked  his  mother’s  blood  before  he  was  born ;  or,  say  others, 
because  he  was  to  shed  blood ;  or  again,  because  he  was  born 
under  the  ruddy  planet  Mars ;  or  again,  because  he  liked  to  eat 
his  meat  underdone  and  red  ;®  but  the  Targumim  say  that 
Esau  had  red  hair  over  his  body  like  a  garment ;  therefore  he 
was  called  Esau.7 

The  lads  grew  ;  and  Esau  was  a  man  of  idleness  to  catch 
birds  and  beasts,  a  man  going  forth  into  the  field  to  kill,  as 
Nimrod  had  killed,  and  Anak,  his  son.  But  Jacob  was  a  man 
peaceful  in  his  works,  a  minister  of  the  school  of  Eber,  seeking 
instruction  before  the  Lord.  And  Isaac  loved  Esau,  for  words 
of  deceit  were  in  his  mouth ;  but  Rebekah  loved  Jacob.8 

On  the  day  that  Abraham  died,  Jacob  dressed  pottage  of 
lentiles,  and  was  going  to  comfort  his  father.  And  Esau  came 
from  the  wilderness,  exhausted  ;  for  in  that  day  he  had  commit¬ 
ted  five  transgressions — he  had  worshipped  with  strange  wor¬ 
ship,  he  had  shed  innocent  blood,  he  had  pursued  a  betrothed 
damsel,  he  had  denied  the  life  of  the  world  to  come,  and  he  had 
despised  his  birthright8 

1  Gen.  xxv.  22.  *  Jer.  i.  5.  *  Bereschith  Rabba,  fol.  56.,  cob  2. 

4  Eisenmenger,  i.  p.  646.  *  Ibid.  •  Ibid.,  pp.  650-1. 

1  Targums,  ed.  Etheridge,  i.  p.  240.  8  Ibid.,  p.  241. 

•  Ibid.,  also  R .  Bechai’s  Comment,  on  the  Five  Books  of  Moses,  fob  35 

col.  1. 


10 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


ti8 


And  Esau  said  to  Jacob,  “  Let  me  now  taste  that  red  pot¬ 
tage,  for  I  am  faint.”  Therefore  he  called  his  name  Edom. 

And  Jacob  said,  “  Sell  to  me  to-day  what  thou  wouldst  here¬ 
after  appropriate — thy  birthright.” 

And  Esau  said,  “  Behold,  I  am  going  to  die,  and  in  anoth 
er  world  I  shall  have  no  life  ;  and  what  then  to  me  is  the 
birthright,  or  the  portion  in  the  world  of  which  thou  speakest  ? 

And  Jacob  said,  “  Swear  to  me  to-day  that  so  it  shall  be.” 

And  he  swore  to  him,  and  sold  his  birthright  to  Jacob.  And 
Jacob  gave  to  Esau  bread,  and  pottage  of  lentiles.  And  he  ate 
and  drank,  and  arose  and  went.  And  Esau  scorned  the  birth¬ 
right,  and  the  portion  of  the  world  that  cometh,  and  denied  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead.1 

But  according  to  certain  Rabbinic  authorities  Esau  sold  his 
birthright  not  only  for  the  mess  of  lentiles,  but  also  for  a  sword 
that  Jacob  had — to  wit,  the  sword  of  Methuselah,  wherewith  he 
had  slain  a  thousand  devils.2 

Esau  had  the  garment  which  God  had  made  for  Adam,3  on 
which  were  embroidered  the  forms  of  all  the  wild  beasts  and 
birds  that  were  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  in  their  proper  colors. 
This  garment  had  been  stolen  by  Ham  from  Noah  in  the  ark, 
and  had  been  given  by  him  to  Cush,  who  gave  it  to  Nimrod. 
Esau  killed  Nimrod,  and  took  from  him  his  painted  dress,  and 
thenceforth  all  the  success  in  hunting  which  had  attended  Nim¬ 
rod  devolved  upon  Esau.4 

The  story  of  the  blessing  of  Jacob  and  Esau  has  not  become 
surrounded  with  many  fables.  The  following  are  the  most  re 
markable.  Esau  on  that  occasion  went  forth  in  such  haste  to 
catch  the  venison,  that  he  forgot  to  take  with  him  Nimrod’s  gar¬ 
ment,  and  therefore  was  not  successful  in  hunting,  as  on  for¬ 
mer  occasions,  and  Jacob  took  advantage  of  this  forgetfulness 
to  assume  the  embroidered  coat.5 

And  when  the  meat  was  ready,  and  Isaac  began  to  eat 
thereof,  he  was  thirsty,  and  there  was  no  wine  for  him  in  the 
house.  So  an  angel  was  sent  to  him  out  of  Paradise,  and 

1  Targum  of  Palestine  and  Jerusalem  ;  Etheridge,  i.  241,  242.  The 
book  Yaschar  says  the  deed  of  transfer  was  written  by  Jacob  on  a  leaf,  and 
that  he  and  Esau  sealed  it,  p.  1 1 5 1 . 

2  Eisenmenger,  i.  p.  651.  1  Gen.  iii.  21 

4  Yaschar,  p.  1150.  where  is  the  story  of  the  assassination  of  Nimrod  by 

Esau. 

»  Ibid. 


ESAU  AND  JACOB . 


219 

brought  him  the  juice  of  the  grape  that  grows  there  on  the 
vine  that  was  created  before  the  foundations  of  the  earth  were 
laid.1 

Isaac  was  so  angry  at  having  been  deceived  by  Jacob,  that 
he  was  about  to  doom  him  to  Gehinnom,  after  he  said, 
“  Where  is  he  that  hath  taken  vension ,  and  brought  it  me,  and  I 
have  eaten  of  all  before  thou  earnest ,  and  have  blessed  him  l  ” 
But  he  paused  to  prepare  his  curse. 

Then  God  suddenly  opened  hell  to  him  beneath  his  feet,  and 
he  looked  into  it,  and  saw  the  abyss  of  fire  and  darkness,  and 
his  horror  rendered  him  speechless ;  but  when  he  recovered 
his  voice,  he  resolved  that  no  child  of  his  should  descend  there 
therefore  he  added,  “  Yea,  and  he  shall  be  blessed ’  ” 2 

The  Mussulmans  relate  the  history  of  Esau  and  Jacob  much 
as  it  stands  in  the  Book  of  Genesis.  They  add  that  the  bene¬ 
diction  of  Esau  was  fulfilled  in  his  having  a  son  named  Roum, 
from  whom  sprang  the  Greek  and  Roman  empires. 

This  is  also  a  Rabbinical  tradition,  for  the  Talmudists  say 
that  Esau  had  a  son  named  Eliphaz,  who  had  a  son,  Zepho, 
from  whom  Vespasian  and  his  son  Titus  were  descended,  and 
thus  they  attribute  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  to  the  struggle 
of  Esau  to  break  the  yoke  of  Jacob  from  off  his  neck. 

Esau  is  said  by  the  Rabbis  to  have  had  four  wives,  in  imita¬ 
tion  ot  Satan,  or  Sammael,  as  has  been  already  related. 

Aouifaraj  says  that  Esau  made  war  with  Jacob,  and  was 
killed  by  him  with  an  arrow. 

Jacob  feared  Esau,  for  Esau  said  in  his  heart,  “I  will  not 
do  as  Cain  did,  who  slew  his  brother  Abel  in  the  lifetime  of 
his  father,  after  which  his  father  begat  Seth  ;  but  I  will  wait 
till  the  days  of  mourning  for  my  father  are  accomplished,  and 
then  I  will  kill  Jacob,  and  so  I  shall  be  the  sole  heir.”  3 

Therefore  Jacob  went  out  only  at  night ;  during  the  day  he 
hid  himself  away.  Thus  several  years  passed,  and  his  life  be¬ 
came  intolerable  to  him.  So  his  mother  said,  “  Thy  uncle 
Laban,  the  son  of  Bethuel,  has  great  possessions,  and  is  very 
old.  Go,  and  ask  him  to  give  thee  his  daughter ;  and  if  he 
consents,  then  tarry  with  him  till  thy  brother’s  anger  turn  away.” 
Jacob  listened  to  the  advice  of  his  mother,  and  he  fled  away 
without  letting  Esau  know. 

Five  miracles  were  wrought  for  the  patriarch  Jacob,  at  the 

1  Eisenmenger,  ii.  p.  879.  *  Ibid.,  p.  26a. 

1  Targums,  i.  p.  250. 


220 


Of D  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


time  when  he  went  forth  from  Beer-sneba.  First,  the  hours  of 
the  clay  were  shortened,  and  the  sun  went  down  before  its  time, 
because  the  Word  desired  to  speak  with  him ;  secondly,  the 
four  stones,  which  Jacob  had  set  for  his  pillow,  he  found  in 
the  morning  had  coagulated  into  one  stone  ;  thirdly,  the  stone 
which,  when  all  the  flocks  were  assembled,  the  shepherds  rolled 
from  the  mouth  of  the  well,  he  rolled  away  with  one  of  his  arms  ; 
fourthly,  the  well  overflowed,  and  the  water  continued  to  flow 
all  the  days  he  was  in  Haran.  The  fifth  sign — the  country 
was  shortened  before  him,  so  that  in  one  day  he  went  forth 
and  came  to  Haran.1 

And  he  prayed  in  the  place  where  he  rested,  and  took  four 
stones  of  that  place,  and  set  them  for  a  pillow,  and  went  asleep. 
Of  these  stones  this  is  the  history.  They  were  twelve  in  num¬ 
ber,  and  Adam  had  set  them  up  as  an  altar.  On  them  Abel 
had  offered  his  sacrifice.  The  Deluge  had  thrown  them  down, 
but  Noah  reared  them  once  more.  They  had  been  again  over¬ 
thrown,  but  Abraham  set  them  in  their  places,  and  of  them 
built  the  altar  on  which  to  sacrifice  Isaac.  These  twelve  stones 
Jacob  now  found,  and  he  placed  them  under  his  head  as  a  pil¬ 
low.  But  a  great  wonder  was  wrought,  and  in  the  morning  the 
twelve  stones  had  melted  together  into  one  stone.2 

Finally,  this  stone,  so  ancient  and  with  such  a  history,  was 
carried  to  Scotland,  by  whom  I  do  not  know,  where  it  was 
placed  at  Scone,  and  was  used  for  the  consecration  of  the  Scot¬ 
tish  kings.  Edward  I.  of  England  brought  it  to  London,  and 
it  was  set  beneath  the  chair  of  the  Confessor,  as  the  following 
lines,  inscribed  on  a  tablet,  announced  : — 

“  Si  quid  habent  veri,  vel  chronica  cana,  fidesve, 

Clauditur  hac  cathedra  nobilis,  ecce,  lapis. 

Ad  caput  eximius  Jacob  quondam  patriarcha 
Quem  posuit  cernens  numina  mira  poli. 

Quem  tulit  ex  Scottis,  spolians  quasi  victor  honoris, 

Edwardus  primus,  Mars  velut  omnipotens. 

Scottorum  domitor,  noster  validissimus  Hector, 

Anglorum  decus,  et  gloria  mi'litise.”  3 

The  stone  may  now  be  seen  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

When  Jacob — to  return  to  our  narrative — slept  with  his 

1  Targums,  i.  p.  252.  *  Pirke  R.  Eliezer,  c.  35. 

*  William  Sanderson,  Vita  M arise,  reg.  Scot.,  et  Jacobi,  reg.  Anglorum  ; 
also  Beckmann,  Notitiar.  dignit.  Dissert.  3,  c.  i.  §  7. 


ESAU  AND  JACOB . 


221 


head  on  the  pillow  of  stones,  he  dreamed,  and  beheld  a  ladder 
fixed  in  the  earth,  and  the  summit  of  it  reached  to  the  height 
of  heaven.  And,  behold !  the  angels  who  had  accompanied 
him  from  the  house  of  his  father,  ascended  to  make  known  to 
the  angels  on  high,  saying,  “  Come,  see  Jacob  the  pious,  whose 
likeness  is  in  the  throne  of  glory,  and  whom  you  have  been 
desirous  to  see  !  ”  These  were  the  two  angels  who  had  been 
sent  to  Sodom  to  destroy  it,  and  who  had  been  forbidden  to 
rise  up  to  the  throne  of  God  again,  because,  say  some,  they 
had  revealed  the  secrets  of  the  Lord  of  the  whole  earth,  or 
because,  say  others,  they  had  threatened  in  their  own  name  to 
destroy  the  cities  of  the  plain. 

Then  the  rest  of  the  angels  of  God  came  down,  at  the  call 
of  these  twain  to  look  upon  Jacob. 

And  the  Glory  of  the  Lord  stood  above  him,  and  He  said  to 
him.  “  I  am  the  Lord  God  of  Abraham,  thy  father,  and  the 
God  of  Isaac.  The  land  on  which  thou  art  lying  I  will  give  to 
thee  and  thy  sons.  And  thy  sons  shall  be  many  as  the  dust  of 
the  earth,  and  shall  become  strong  in  the  west  and  in  the  east, 
and  in  the  north  and  in  the  south  ;  and  all  the  kindreds  of 
the  earth  shall  be  blessed  through  thy  righteousness  and  the 
righteousness  of  thy  sons.” 

When  Jacob  arrived  at  Haran,  he  saw  a  well  in  a  field,  and 
three  flocks  lying  near  it — because  from  that  well  they  watered 
the  flocks — and  a  great  stone  was  laid  upon  the  mouth  of 
the  well. 

And  Jacob  said  to  the  shepherds,  “My  brethren,  whence 
are  ye  ?  ” 

They  said,  “  From  Haran  are  we.” 

And  he  said,  “  Know  you  Laban,  son  of  Nahor?”  They 
answered,  “We  know  him.” 

And  he  said,  “  Hath  he  peace  ?  ” 

They  said,  “  Peace ;  and  behold,  Rachel,  his  daughter, 
cometh  with  the  sheep.” 

And  he  said,  “  Behold,  the  time  of  the  day  is  great ;  it  Is  not 
time  to  gather  home  the  cattle ;  water  the  sheep.” 

But  they  said,  “  We  cannot,  until  all  the  shepherds  be 
gathered,  and  then  we  can  altogether  roll  away  the  stone.” 

While  they  were  speaking  with  him,  Rachel  came  with  her 
father’s  sheep;  for  she  was  a  shepherdess  at  that  time,  because 
there  had  been  a  plague  among  the  sheep  of  Laban,  and 
but  few  of  them  were  left ;  and  he  had  dismissed  his  shep- 


222 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


herds,  and  had  put  the  remaining  flock  before  Rachel,  his 
daughter. 

Then  Jacob  went  nigh,  and  rolled  the  stone  which  all  the 
shepherds  together  could  scarce  lift,  with  one  of  his  hands, 
and  the  well  uprose,  and  the  waters  flowed,  and  he  watered 
the  sheep  of  Laban,  his  mother’s  brother ;  and  it  uprose  for 
twenty  years. 

And  Jacob  kissed  Rachel,  and  lifted  up  his  voice  and  wept 

And  Jacob  told  Rachel  that  he  was  come  to  be  with  hei 
father  to  take  one  of  his  daughters.  Then  Rachel  answered 
him  :  “  Thou  canst  not  dwell  with  him,  for  he  is  a  man  of 
unning.” 

But  Jacob  said,  “  I  am  more  cunning  than  he.” 

And  when  she  knew  that  he  was  the  son  of  Rebekah,  she 
ran  and  made  it  known  to  her  father.  And  when  Laban  heard 
the  account  of  the  strength  of  J  acob,  his  sister’s  son,  and  how 
he  had  taken  the  birthright  and  the  order  of  blessing  from  the 
hand  of  his  brother,  and  how  the  Lord  had  revealed  Himself 
to  him  in  the  way,  and  how  the  stone  had  been  removed,  and 
how  the  well  had  upflowed  and  risen  to  the  brink, — he  ran  and 
kissed  him,  and  led  him  into  his  house. 

Laban  had  two  daughters  ;  the  name  of  the  elder  was  Leah 
and  the  name  of  the  younger,  Rachel.  And  the  eyes  of  Leah 
were  moist  and  running,  from  weeping  and  praying  before  the 
Lord,  that  He  would  not  destine  her  for  Esau  the  wicked. 

Jacob  served  Laban  seven  years,  and  was  given  Leah  to  wife  ,* 
and  he  served  seven  years  more;  and  he  was  given  Rachel  to 
wife ;  and  he  served  six  years  for  cattle  that  Laban  gave  him ; 
and  then,  seeing  that  Laban’s  face  was  set  against  him,  he  fled 
away  secretly  from  Laban’s  house,  and  Rachel  stole  the  image 
that  Laban  worshipped.  And  this  image  was  the  head  of  a 
man,  a  first-born,  that  Laban  had  slain,  and  he  had  salted  it 
with  salt  and  balsams,  and  had  written  incantations  on  a  plate 
of  gold  for  it,  and  this  head  spake  to  him  and  told  him  oracles, 
and  Laban  bowed  himself  down  before  it.1 

Jacob  drew  near  to  the  land  of  Esau,  and  he  feared  that  his 
enmity  was  not  abated  ;  therefore  he  sent  a  message  before  hire 
to  his  brother,  and  he  tarried  all  night  at  Mahanaim.  And 
he  sent  a  present  before  him  to  Esau  to  abate  his  anger. 

The  Book  of  Jasher  gives  some  curious  details  on  the  meet 
ing  of  the  brothers. 

1  The  whole  of  the  above  is  from  the  Targumim 


ESA  U  AND  JACOB. 


223 


Jacob,  trusting  to  the  support  of  the  Most  High,  besought 
Him  to  stand  by  him,  and  deliver  him  from  the  wrath  of  his 
brother.  And  God  sent  four  angels  to  protect  him  ;  these 
angels  went  before  him.  The  first  who  met  Esau  presented 
himself  at  the  head  of  a  thousand  horsemen,  armed  at  all 
points,  who  fell  upon  the  troop  that  accompanied  Esau,  and 
dispersed  it.  As  this  body  of  men  swept  along,  they  shouted, 
“  We  are  the  servants  of  Jacob  ;  who  can  resist  us  ?  ” 

A  second  body  followed,  under  the  second  angel  ;  then  a 
third  phalanx,  under  the  third  angel. 

Esau,  trembling,  exclaimed,  “I  am  the  brother  of  Jacob. 
It  is  twenty  years  since  I  saw  him,  and  you  maltreat  me  as  I 
am  on  my  way  to  meet  him  !  ” 

One  of  the  angels  answered,  “  If  Jacob,  the  servant  of  God, 
had  not  been  thy  brother,  we  would  have  destroyed  thee  and 
all  thy  men.” 

The  fourth  body  passing,  under  the  command  of  the  fourth 
angel,  completed  the  humiliation  of  Esau. 

However,  Jacob,  who  knew  not  what  assistance  had  been 
rendered  himxby  Heaven,  prepared  for  Esau,  to  appease  him, 
rich  presents.  He  sent  him  four  hundred  and  forty  sheep, 
thirty  asses,  thirty  camels,  fifty  oxen,  in  ten  troops,  each  con¬ 
ducted  by  a  faithful  servant  charged  to  deliver  his  troop  as  a 
gift  from  Jacob  to  his  brother  Esau. 

This  consoled  and  pleased  Esau,  who,  as  soon  as  he  saw 
Jacob  again,  was,  by  the  grace  of  God,  placed  in  a  better  mind 
and  the  brethren  met,  and  parted  with  fraternal  love.1 

Now  let  us  take  another  version  of  the  story  of  this  meet¬ 
ing. 

It  came  to  pass  that  Jacob  spent  one  night  alone  beyond 
Jabbok,  and  an  angel  contended  with  him,  having  taken  on  him 
the  body  and  likeness  of  a  man.  This  angel  was  Michael,  and 
the  subject  of  their  contention  was  this  : — The  angel  said  to 
Jacob,  “  Hast  thou  not  promised  to  give  the  tenth  of  all  that 
is  thine  to  the  Lord?  ”  And  Jacob  said,  “  I  have  promised.” 

Then  the  angel  said,  “  Behold  thou  hast  ten  sons  and  one 
daughter ;  nevertheless  thou  hast  not  tithed  them.” 

immediately  Jacob  set  apart  the  four  first-born  of  the  four 
mothers,  and  there  remained  eight.  And  he  began  to  number 
from  Simeon,  and  Levi  came  up  for  the  tenth. 

1  Jalkut  Catlasch,  fol.  Sr,  col.  1  ;  Yaschar,  p.  1161  et  seq. 


>24 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


Then  Michael  answered  and  said,  “  Lord  of  the  world,  this 
is  Thy  lot.,J  So  Levi  became  the  consecrated  one  to  the 
Lord. 

On  account  of  this  ready  compliance  with  his  oath,  Michael 
was  unable  to  hurt  him,  but  he  remained  striving  with  Jacob, 
till  the  first  ray  of  sunlight  rose  above  the  eastern  hills. 

And  he  said,  “  Let  me  go,  for  the  column  of  the  morning 
ascendeth,  and  the  hour  cometh  when  the  angels  on  high  offer 
praise  to  the  Lord  of  the  world  :  and  I  am  one  of  the  angels 
of  praise  ;  but  from  the  day  that  the  world  was  created,  my 
time  to  praise  hath  not  come  till  now.” 

And  he  said,  “  I  will  not  let  thee  go,  until  thou  bless  me.” 

Now  Michael  had  received  commandment  not  to  leave 
Jacob  till  the  patriarch  suffered  him  ;  and  as  it  began  to  dawn, 
the  hosts  of  heaven,  who  desired  to  begin  their  morning  hymn, 
came  down  to  Michael  and  bade  him  rise  up  to  the  throne  of 
God  and  lead  the  chant ;  but  he  said,  “  I  cannot,  unless  Jacob 
suffer  me  to  depart.”  1 

Thus  did  God  prove  Jacob,  as  He  had  proved  Abraham, 
whether  he  would  give  to  Him  his  son,  when  He  asked  him  of 
the  patriarch. 

But,  according  to  certain  Rabbinic  authorities,  it  was  not 
Michael  who  wrestled  with  Jacob,  but  it  was  Sammael  the  Evil 
One,  or  Satan.  For  Sammael  is  the  angel  of  Edom,  as  Michael 
is  the  angel  of  Israel  ;  and  Sammael  went  before  Esau,  hoping 
to  destroy  Jacob  in  the  night.  Sammael,  says  the  Jalkut 
Rubeni,  met  Jacob,  who  had  the  stature  of  the  first  man,  and 
strove  with  him  ;  but  he  could  not  do  him  an  injury,  for  Abra¬ 
ham  stood  on  his  right  hand,  and  Isaac  on  his  left.  And  when 
Sammael  would  part  from  him,  Jacob  would  not  suffer  it, 
till  the  Evil  One  had  given  him  the  blessing  which  Jacob  had 
purchased  from  Esau.  And  from  that  day  Sammael  took 
from  Jacob  his  great  strength,  and  made  him  to  halt  upon  his 
thigh.2 

But  when  Michael  appeared  before  God — we  must  now 
suppose  the  man  who  strove  with  Jacob  to  have  been  the 
angel — God  said  to  him  in  anger,  “Thou  hast  injured  My 
priest  !  ” 

Michael  answered,  “  I  am  Thy  priest.” 

“  Yea,”  said  the  Mo*Jt  High,  “  thou  art  My  priest  in  heaven, 
but  Jacob  is  My  priest  on  earth.  Why  hast  thou  lamed  him  ?  ” 

1  Eisenmengcr,  i.  p.  486.  *  Jalkut  Rubeni,  fol.  61.  col.  3. 


ESAU  AND  JACOB. 


22S 


Then  Michael  answered,  “I  wrestled  with  him,  and  let  him 
overcome  me,  to  Thy  honor,  O  Lord  ;  that,  seeing  he  had 
overcome  an  angel  of  God,  he  might  have  courage  to  go  boldly 
to  meet  Esau.” 

But  this  was  no  excuse  for  having  lamed  him.  Therefore 
Michael  said  to  Raphael,  “  Oh,  angel  of  healing  !  come  to  my 
aid.”  So  Raphael  descended  to  earth,  and  touehed  the  hollow 
of  Jacob’s  thigh,  and  it  was  restored  as  before. 

But  God  said  to  Michael,  “  For  this  that  thou  hast  done, 
thou  shalt  be  the  guardian  of  Israel  as  long  as  the  world  last- 
eth.”  1 

Jacob  called  the  name  of  the  place  Peniel ;  for  he  said,  “  I 
have  seen  the  angel  of  the  Lord  face  to  face,  and  my  soul  is 
saved.”  And  the  sun  rose  upon  him  before  its  time,  as  when 
he  went  out  from  Beer-sheba,  it  had  set  before  its  time.2 

And  Jacob  lifted  up  his  eyes  and  looked,  and  behold,  Esau 
came,  and  with  him  four  hundred  men  of  war.  And  he  di¬ 
vided  the  children  unto  Leah,  and  to  Rachel,  and  to  the  two 
concubines,  and  placed  the  concubines  and  their  sons  foremost ; 
for  he  said,  “  If  Esau  come  to  destroy  the  children,  and  ill-treat 
the  women,  he  will  do  it  with  them,  and  meanwhile  we  can 
prepare  to  fight ;  and  Lean  and  her  children  after,  and  Rachel 
and  Joseph  after  them.”3  And  he  himself  went  over  before 
them,  praying  and  asking  mercy  before  the  Lord  ;  and  he  bow¬ 
ed  upon  the  earth  seven  times,  until  he  met  with  his  brother  ; 
but  it  was  not  to  Esau  that  he  bowed,  though  Esau  supposed 
he  did,  but  to  the  Lord  God  Most  High.4 * * 

And  Esau  ran  to  meet  him,  and  embraced  him,  and  fell 
upon  his  neck  and  bit  him,  but  by  the  mercy  of  God  the  neck 
of  Jacob  became  marble,  and  Esau  broke  his  teeth  upon  it; 
therefore  it  is  said  in  the  Book  of  Genesis  that  he  fell  on  his 
neck,  and  kissed  him;  and  they  wept. 5  But  the  Targumim  ap¬ 
parently  do  not  acknowledge  that  the  neck  of  Jacob  became 
marble,  for  the  Targum  of  Palestine  explains  their  weeping 
thus  :  “  Esau  wept  on  account  of  the  pain  of  his  teeth,  which 

1  Jalkut  Cadasch,  fol.  gi,  col.  4.  8  Targum  of  Palestine,  i.  p.  272. 

*  Jacob  prepared  three  things  against  Esau — War,  Gifts,  and  Prayer — 
as  a  token  to  all  men  that  they  must  overcome  evil  by  Resistance,  by  Alms, 

and  by  Supplication.  (R.  Bechai,  Comm,  on  the  Five  Books  of  Moses 
fol.  42,  col.  4.) 

4  Jalkut  Rubeni,  fol.  62,  col.  2. 

4  Bereschith  rubba  fol.  71,  col.  1  (70th  Parascha), 

IO* 


226 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


were  shaken  ;  but  Jacob  wept  because  of  the  pain  of  his  neck  ;  ” 
and  the  Targum  of  Jerusalem,  u  Esau  wept  for  the  crushing 
of  his  teeth,  and  Jacob  wept  for  the  tenderness  of  his  neck.” 

“  The  Lord  God  prospered  Jacob,”  and  he  had  one  hun¬ 
dred  and  two  times  ten  thousand  and  seven  thousand  (/.  e.,  a 
thousand  times  a  thousand,  seven  thousand  and  two  hundred) 
sheep,  and  six  hundred  thousand  dogs;  but  some  Rabbis  say 
the  sheep  were  quite  innumerable,  but  when  Jacob  counted 
his  sheep-dogs  he  found  that  he  had  twelve  hundred  thou¬ 
sand  of  them  ;  others,  however,  reduced  the  number  one-half. 
They  say,  one  dog  went  with  each  flock,  but  those  who  say 
that  there  were  twelve  hundred  thousand  dogs',  count  two  to 
each  flock.1 

Jacob,  says  the  Rabbi  Samuel,  could  recite  the  whole  of 
the  Psalter.2  Of  course  this  must  have  been  in  the  spirit  of 
prophecy,  as  the  Psalms  were  not  written,  with  the  exception 
of  Psalm  civ.,  which  had  been  composed  by  Adam. 

Adam,  after  his  fall,  had  been  given  by  God  six  command¬ 
ments,  but  Noah  was  given  a  seventh — to  this  effect,  that  he 
was  not  to  eat  a  limb  or  portion  of  any  living  animal.  Abra¬ 
ham  was  given  an  eighth,  the  commandment  of  circumcision, 
and  Jacob  was  communicated  a  ninth,  through  the  mouth  of 
an  adder,  that  he  was  not  to  eat  the  serpent.3 

If  we  may  trust  the  Book  of  Jasher,  the  affair  of  Shechem 
the  son  of  Hamor,  was  as  follows  : — The  men  of  the  city  were 
not  all  circumcised,  only  some  of  them,  so  as  to  blind  the  eyes 
of  the  sons  of  Jacob,  and  throw  them  off  their  guard;  and 
Shechem  and  Hamor  had  presently  concerted  to  fall  upon 
Jacob  and  his  sons  and  butcher  them  ;  but  Simeon  and  Levi 
were  warned  of  their  intention  by  a  servant  of  Dinah,  and  took 
the  initiative.4  But  this  is  a  clumsy  attempt  to  throw  the  blame 
off  the  shoulders  of  the  ancestors  of  the  Jewish  nation  upon 
those  of  their  Gentile  enemies. 

Jacob,  say  the  Rabbis,  would  have  had  no  daughters  at  all 
in  his  family,  but  only  sons,  had  he  not  called  himself  El-elohe- 
Israel  (Israel  is  God).5  Therefore  God  was  angry  with  him 
for  making  himself  equal  with  God,  and  in  punishment  he 
afflicted  him  with  a  giddy  daughter.0 

Esau,  say  the  Mussulmans,  had  no  prophets  in  his  family 

1  Bereschith  rabba.  fob  67,  col.  1.  3  Jalkut  Cadasch,  fol.  90,  cob  3. 

2  Eisenmenger,  i.  p.  325.  4  Tabari,  i.  p.  206. 

5  Gen.  xxxiii.  20.  6  Jalkut  Cadasch,  fob  91,  cob  3. 


JOSEPH. 


22^ 


except  Job.  All  the  prophets  rose  from  the  family  of  Jacob; 
and  when  Esau  saw  that  the  gift  of  prophecy  was  not  in  his 
family,  he  went  out  of  the  land,  for  he  would  not  live  near  his 

brother.1 

The  father  of  the  Israelites,  from  the  land  of  Canaan  which 
he  inhabited,  could  smell  the  clothes  of  Joseph  when  he  was 
in  Egypt,  being  a  prophet ;  and  thus  he  knew  that  his  son  was 
alive.  He  was  asked  how  it  was  that  he  divined  nothing  when 
his  beloved  son  was  cast  into  the  pit  by  his  brothers,  and  sold 
to  the  Ishmaelites.  He  replied  that  the  prophetic  power  is 
sudden,  like  a  lightning  flash,  piercing  sometimes  to  the  height 
of  heaven;  it  is  not  permanent  in  its  intensity,  but  leaves  at 
times  those  favored  with  it  in  such  darkness  that  they  do  not 
know  what  is  at  their  feet.'’ 

The  Arabs  say  that  Jacob,  much  afflicted  with  sciatica,  was 
healed  by  abstaining  from  the  meat  he  most  loved,  and  that 
was  the  flesh  of  the  camel.  At  Jerusalem,  say  the  Arabs,  is 
preserved  the  stone  on  which  Jacob  laid  his  head  when  he 
slept  on  his  way  to  Karan. 

The  custom  of  saying  “  God  bless  you !  ”  when  a  person 
sneezes,  dates  from  Jacob.  The  Rabbis  say  that,  before  the 
time  that  Jacob  lived,  men  sneezed  once,  and  that  was  the  end* 
of  them — the  shock  slew  them  ;  but  the  patriarch,  by  his  in¬ 
tercession,  obtained  a  relaxation  of  this  law,  subject  to  the 
condition  that,  in  all  nations,  a  sneeze  should  be  consecrated 
by  a  sacred  aspiration. 


228 


CLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS . 


the  child  so  dearly,  that  she  could  not  endure  the  thought  of 
parting  with  him.  Therefore  she  took  the  family  girdle,  which 
she  as  the  eldest  retained  as  an  heirloom,  the  girdle  which 
Abraham  had  worn  when  he  prepared  to  sacrifice  his  son,  and 
she  strapped  it  round  Joseph’s  waist. 

Then  she  drew  him  before  the  judge,  and  accused  him  of 
theft,  and  claimed  that  he  should  be  made  over  to  her  as  a 
slave  to  expiate  his  theft.  And  it  was  done  so.  Thus  the 
child  Joseph  grew  up  in  her  house,  and  it  was  not  till  after 
her  death  that  he  returned  to  his  father  Jacob. 

One  morning  Joseph  related  to  his  father  a  dream  that  he 
had  dreamt ;  he  said  that  he  and  his  brothers  had  planted 
twigs  in  the  earth,  but  all  the  twigs  of  his  brothers  had 
withered,  whereas  his  own  twig  had  brought  forth  leaves,  and 
flourished. 

Jacob  was  so  immersed  in  thought  over  the  dream,  that  he 
allowed  a  poor  man  who  came  beggingto  go  away  unrelieved, 
because  unnoticed.1  And  this  act  of  forgetfulness  brought 
upon  him  some  trouble,  as  we  shall  see. 

One  morning  Joseph  related  to  him  another  dream  ;  he  saw 
the  sun,  the  moon,  and  the  stars  bow  down  before  him.  Ja¬ 
cob  could  no  longer  doubt  the  significance  of  these  dreams, 
which  showed  him  how  great  Joseph  would  be,  but  he  cau¬ 
tioned  him  on  no  account  to  let  his  brothers  know  about  them, 
lest  they  should  envy  him. 

He  was  so  beautiful  that  he  was  called  the  Moon  of  Ca¬ 
naan,  and  he  had  on  one  of  his  shoulders  a  luminous  point 
like  a  star,  a  token  that  the  spirit  of  prophecy  rested  upon 
him.  The  brothers  of  Joseph,  however,  heard  of  the  dreams, 
and  they  were  greatly  enraged,  and  they  said,  “Joseph  and 
Benjamin  are  more  loved  of  their  father  than  we  ten  ;  let  us 
kill  Joseph,  or  drive  him  out  of  the  country,  and  when  we 
have  done  this,  we  will  repent  at  our  leisure,  and  God  will  for¬ 
give  us.”  2 

One  day  the  brothers  went  to  feed  their  father’s  flock  in 
Shechem.  Then  Israel  said  to  Joseph,  “  Do  not  thy  brethren 
feed  in  Shechem  ?  I  am  afraid  lest  the  Hivite  come  upon 
them  and  smite  them,  and  repay  on  me  what  Simeon  and  Levi 

1  This  was  Sammael,  and  he  complained  to  God  that  Jacob  had  neg¬ 
lected  the  duty  of  hospitality,  therefore  he  was  suffered  to  afflict  him  for  a 
season. 

2  Tabari,  i.  p.  210. 


JOSEPH. 


329 


did  to  Shechem  and  Hamor,  because  of  Dinah  their  sister.  1 
will  send  thee  to  them  to  caution  them  to  go  elsewhere.” 

And  he  said,  “I  am  ready.”  So  Joseph  arose,  and  went 
to  Shechem  ;  and  Gabriel,  in  the  likeness  of  a  man,  found  him 
wandering  in  the  field.  And  he  said  to  him,  “  Thy  brethren 
have  journeyed  hence.  I  heard  of  them,  when  I  was  in  the 
presence  of  God,  behind  the  veil,  and  that,  from  this  day,  the 
bondage  of  Egypt  begins.”  1 

When  Joseph  came  in  sight,  the  brothers  conspired  to  slay 
him,  but  Judah  said,  “  Slay  not  Joseph,  for  to  slay  is  a  crime  ; 
but  cast  him  into  a  well  on  the  way  that  the  caravans  pass, 
that  he  may  be  found  by  a  caravan,  and  be  drawn  out.”  Jo¬ 
seph  was  then  aged  seventeen. 

His  brethren  fell  on  him  and  stripped  him,  and  were  about 
to  cast  him  into  the  well  which  was  by  the  wayside  to  Jerusa¬ 
lem,  when  he  said,  “  O  my  brothers,  wherewith  shall  I  cover 
my  nakedness  in  this  pit?” 

They  replied,  “  Bid  the  sun,  the  moon,  and  the  stars,  which 
adored  thee,  bring  thee  clothes  to  cover  thy  nakedness.” 

Having  thus  mocked  him,  they  let  him  down  into  the  well. 
There  was  much  water  in  it;  and-a  stone  had  fallen  into  it: 
on  this  Joseph  stood,  and  was  above  the  surface  of  the  water.3 
Not  so,  say  the  Rabbis,  it  was  dry,  but  it  was  full  of  scorpions 
and  adders.3 

Judah,  according  to  the  Mussulman  account,  had  not  con¬ 
sented  to  this,  he  being  absent ;  and  when  he  had  learned  what 
had  been  done,  he  took  food  and  let  it  down  into  the  well,  and 
told  Joseph  to  be  of  good  cheer,  his  brothers’  anger  would 
turn  away,  and  then  he  would  bring  him  back  to  them.  But 
the  Jews  say  that  Reuben  was  absent,  as  he  was  fasting  on  a 
.  mountain,  because  he  had  incurred  his  father’s  anger,  and  was 
in  disgrace,  and  he  hoped,  by  restoring  Joseph  to  Israel,  to  re 
cover  his  father’s  favor. 

The  sons  of  Jacob  then  slew  a  lamb  and  dipped  the  gar 
ment  of  Joseph  in  the  blood,  and  brought  it  to  their  father* 
and  said,  “We  left  Joseph  in  charge  of  our  clothes,  and  a 
wolf  has  fallen  upon  him,  and  has  devoured  him.” 

But  Jacob  looked  at  the  garment  and  said,  “I  see  that  it 

i  Targums,  i.  p.  287.  s  Tabari,  i.  p.  an. 

8  Targums,  i.  p.  288.  The  account  of  the  sale  in  Yaschar  is  very  long, 
and  full  of  details  too  numerous  for  insertion  here  (pp.  1185-8). 


230 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


is  bloody,  but  I  see  no  rents  ;  the  wolf  was  merciful  to  my  son 
Joseph,  for  he  ate  him  and  left  his  garment  whole  !  ” 1 

Then  Jacob  went  to  commune  with  God,  and  the  spirit  of 
prophecy  came  upon  him,  and  he  said,  “  No  wolf,  no  enemj 
has  slain  him,  but  a  bad  woman  is  against  him.”  3 

Now  Joseph  was  three  days  and  three  nights  in  the  pit,  but 
it  was  not  dark,  for  the  angel  Gabriel  hung  in  it  a  precious 
stone  to  give  him  light.3 

The  brethren  of  Joseph,  seeing  that  their  father  mistrusted 
them,  said  to  him,  “  We  will  go  and  catch  the  wolf  that  slew 
Joseph.” 

He  said,  “  Go  and  do  so.” 

So  they  went  and  chased  and  caught  a  monstrous  wolf,  and 
they  brought  him  to  their  father  and  said,  “  This  is  the  beast 
wheieof  we  spoke  to  thee,  that  it  had  slain  Joseph.” 

Tut  God  opened  the  mouth  of  the  wolf,  and  he  said,  “  Son 
of  Isaac,  believe  not  the  words  of  thy  envious  sons.  I  am  a 
wolf  out  of  a  foreign  land  ;  I  one  morning  lost  my  young  one 
when  I  woke  up,  and  I  have  been  straying  in  all  directions  to 
find  it ;  is  it  likely  that  I,  mourning  over  the  loss  of  a  wild  cub, 
should  attack  and  kill  a  young  prophet  ?  ” 

Jacob  released  the  wolf  out  of  the  hands  of  his  sons,  and 
he  dismissed  his  sons,  for  he  abhorred  the  sight  of  their  faces; 
only  Benjamin,  the  brother  of  Joseph,  and  the  youngest  child 
of  Rachel,  did  he  retain  near  him.4 

On  the  thi*rd  morning,  a  party  of  Arabs  passed  near  the 
well,  and  were  thirsty  Now  the  chief  of  these  Arabs  was 
Melek-ben-Dohar ;  the  second,  who  accompanied  Melek,  was 
an  Indian,  a  freed  man  of  Melek,  and  his  name  was  Buschra. 

Melek  reached  the  well  carrying  a  bucket  and  a  rope,  and 
let  down  the  bucket  into  the  well.  Then  Joseph  put  his  hand, 
on  it,  and,  however  much  Melek  and  Buschra  pulled,  they 
could  not  raise  the  bucket.  Then  Melek  looked  down  into 
the  pit,  and  exclaimed :  <£  O  Buschra,  the  bucket  was  heavy 
because  a  young  man  has  hold  of  it.” 

Now  the  face  of  Joseph  illumined  the  wrell  like  a  lamp: 
Buschra  and  Melek  tried  to  raise  Joseph,  but  they  could  not. 

Then  Melek  asked,  “  What  is  thy  name,  and  whence  art 
thou  ?  ” 

1  Tabari,  i.  p  212.  *  Targums,  i.  23g.  *  Weil,  p.  10a. 

4  Yaschar,  tr.  Drachs,  p.  1.92. 


JOSEPH. 


231 


Joseph  answered,  “I  am  a  young  man  of  Canaan ;  my 
brothers  have  cast  me  into  this  cistern,  but  I  am  not  guilty.” 

Melek  said  to  his  companions,  “  If  we  tell  the  rest  of  the 
caravan  that  we  have  drawn  this  youth  out  of  the  well,  they 
will  demand  a  share  in  the  price  he  will  fetch.  Now  I  can 
sell  this  youth  for  a  large  sum  in  Egypt.  I  will  therefore  tell 
my  comrades  that  I  have  bought  him  from  some  people  who 
were  at  the  well.  Do  thou  say  the  same  thing,  and  we  will 
share  the  money  between  us.” 

Next  day,  being  the  fourth  day,  the  brethren,  finding  that 
their  father’s  face  was  turned  against  them,  went  to  the  cistern 
to  draw  forth  Joseph,  and  when  t?hey  found  him  not,  they  went 
fo  the  caravan,  and  they  saw  Joseph  among  the  Arabs. 

Then  they  asked,  “  Whose  is  this  lad  ?  ” 

Melek-ben-Dohar  replied,  “  He  his  mine.” 

They  answered,  “  He  belongs  to  us ;  he  ran  away  from  us.” 

Melek  replied,  “  Well,  I  will  give  you  money  for  him.”  1 

So  he  bought  him  for  twenty  pieces  of  silver  ;  thus  each  of 
the  brothers  obtained  two  drachmas,  and  therewith  they  bought 
shoes.'  To  this  the  prophet  Amos  refers  in  two  places  (ii.  6 ; 
viii.  6),  and  in  the  Testament  of  the  Twelve  Patriarchs,  which 
is  received  as  canonical  by  the  Armenian  Church,  Zebulun  re¬ 
lates  the  same  circumstance,  that  the  brethren  supplied  them¬ 
selves  with  sandals  from  the  money  which  they  got  by  the  sale 
of  Joseph. 

Joseph  went  along  with  the  Ishmaelites  till  they  passed 
his  mother’s  tomb  ;  then  his  grief  overcame  him,  and  he  burst 
forth  into  bitter  tears  and  cried,  “  O  mother,  mother  !  I  am  an 
outcast  and  a  slave,  I  the  child  of  the  wife  Jacob  loved.  When 
thou  wast  dying,  thou  didst  show  me  to  my  father,  and  bade 
him  look  on  me,  and  be  comforted  for  my  loss.  O  mother, 
mother !  hast  thou  no  thought  of  thy  son  ?  Awake  and  see 
the  miserable  condition  of  thy  child  ;  shake  off  thy  sleep  ;  be 
my  defence  against  my  brethren,  and  comfort  my  father. 
Awake  and  stand  up  to  judge  my  quarrel,  awake  and  plead  my 
cause  with  God  !  awake  and  look  upon  the  desolation  of  the 
soul  of  my  father  who  cherished  thee,  and  who  for  fourteen 
years  served  a  hard  bondage  for  his  beloved  Rachel  1  Console 
him,  I  pray  thee,  and  by  the  voice  that  he  loves,  soothe  the 
grief  of  his  last  days.” 


1  Tahari,  L  pp.  *13.  *14, 


*  Targuma,  i  itL 


232 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


It  was  moonlight,  and  the  caravan  was  resting. 

A  low  voice  issued  from  the  tomb,  “  My  son  !  my  son 
Joseph  !  my  child  !  I  have  heard  the  voice  of  thy  crying.  I 
know  all  thou  hast  suffered,  my  son,  and  my  grief  is  as  deep  as 
the  sea.  But  put  thy  trust  in  God,  who  is  the  help  of  thy 
countenance  and  thy  God  !  Rise,  my  child,  and  have  patience. 
If  thou  knewest  the  future,  thou  wouldst  be  comforted.1 

One  of  the  chiefs  of  the  caravan,  wearied  with  the  cries  of 
Joseph,  came  to  drive  him  from  the  tomb,  but  suddenly  a  dark 
and  threatening  cloud  appeared  in  the  sky  over  his  head,  and 
he  desisted  in  fear. 

In  the  Testament  of  the  Twelve  patriarchs,  Benjamin  says 
that  a  man  struck  Joseph  as  he  lagged  on  the  way,  whereupon 
a  lion  fell  upon  the  man  and  slew  him. 

The  sun  was  about  to  set,  when  the  caravan  entered  Heli¬ 
opolis,  the  chief  city  of  Egypt,  which  was  then  under  the  gov¬ 
ernment  of  Rajjan,  an  Amalekite.  Joseph’s  face  shone  bright¬ 
er  than  the  mid-day  sun  ;  and  as  this  new  light  from  the  east 
shone  in  the  city,  and  cast  the  shadows  towards  the  declining 
sun,  all  the  women  and  damsels  ran  out  upon  the  terraces  or 
to  the  windows  to  see. 

Next  day  he  was  placed  for  sale  before  the  palace  of  the 
king.  All  the  wealthy  ladies  of  Heliopolis  sent  their  husbands 
or  relations  to  bid  for  the  beautiful  youth,  but  he  was  pur¬ 
chased  by  Potiphar,  the  king’s  treasurer,2  who  was  childless, 
and  designed  making  Joseph  his  adopted  son  and  heir. 

Zuleika,3  Potiphar’s  wife,  received  him  with  great  friendli¬ 
ness,  gave  him  new  clothes  and  a  garden-house  in  which  to 
live,  as  he  would  not  sit  down  to  eat  with  the  Egyptians.  He 
was  occupied  in  tending  the  fruit  and  the  flowers  in  Potiphar’s 
garden  ;  and  from  her  window  Zuleika  watched  him. 

Thus  Joseph  served  as  gardener  to  Potiphar  for  six  yearsc 

A  graceful  Arab  legend  of  this  period  of  Joseph’s  life  de¬ 
serves  not  to  be  omitted. 

One  day  an  Ismaelite  passed  the  gate  of  Potiphar’s  garden, 
leading  a  camel.  As  the  beast  approached  Joseph,  who  was 

1Yaschar,  pp.  1188-9;  Parrascha  Wajescheb.  This  touching  incident 
is  common  to  Rabbinic  and  Mussulman  traditions.  It  has  been  gracefully 
versified  by  Dr.  Le  Heris,  “  Sagen  aus  der  Orient ;  ”  Mannheim,  1852. 

2  His  name  in  Arabic  is  Aziz. 

3  Zuleika  is  the  name  in  Yaschar;  it  is  that  also  given  her  by  the 
Arabs. 


JOSEPH .  ,  233 

standing  at  the  door,  it  bowed,  refused  to  follow  its  master 
and  turning  to  Joseph,  fell  before  him,  and  shed  tears  over  his 
feet. 

Joseph  recognized  the  camel  as  having  once  belonged  to 
his  father,  and  he  remembered  having  often  given  it  bread. 
He  questioned  the  Ishmaelite,  who  acknowledged  he  had  pur¬ 
chased  the  beast  from  Israel. 

Now  Joseph  loved  Zuleika  as  much  as  she  loved  him,  but 
he  did  not  venture  to  hope  that  he  was  precious  to  his  mistress. 

One  day  when  a  great  feast  of  the  gods  was  observed,  all 
the  household  had  gone  to  the  temple,  save  Zuleika,  who  pre¬ 
tended  to  be  ill,  and  Joseph,  who  worshipped  the  One  true 
God.  Zuleika  prepared  a  table  with  wine  and  fruit  and  sweet 
cakes,  and  invited  Joseph. to  cat  with  her. 

He  was  rejoiced,  and  his  heart  beat  with  passion  ;  and  when 
he  took  the  goblet  of  wine  she  offered  him,  he  looked  into  her 
eyes,  and  saw  that  she  loved  him.  Then,  says  the  Rabbi  Ish- 
mael  in  the  Midrash,  the  form  of  his  father  Jacob  appeared  in 
the  window  or  doorway,  and  thus  addressed  him  :  “Joseph  ! 
hereafter  the  names  of  thy  brothers  engraven  on  gems  shall 
adorn  the  breastplate  of  the  High  Priest,  and  shall  thine  be  ab¬ 
sent  from  among  them?”  Then  Joseph  dug  his  ten  fingers 
into  the  ground,  and  so  conquered  himself.1 

The  Mussulmans  say  also  that  Joseph  was  brought  to  his 
senses  by  seeing  the  vision  of  his  father  in  the  door  biting  his 
finger  reproachfully  at  him.2 

When  Potiphar  returned  home,  Zuleika  brought  false  accu¬ 
sations  against  Joseph,  but  a  babe  who  was  in  its  cradle,  in  the 
room, — the  child  was  a  relation  of  Zuleika,-— lifted  up  its  voice 
in  protest,  and  said,  “  Potiphar,  if  you  want  to  know  the  truth, 
examine  the  torn  portion  of  the  garment.  If  it  is  from  the 
front  of  the  dress,  then  know  that  Zuleika  was  struggling  to 
thrust  Joseph  from  approaching  her ;  if  from  the  back,  know 
that  she  was  pursuing  him.” 

Potiphar  obeyed  the  voice  of  the  sucking  child,  and  found 
that  his  wife  had  spoken  falsely,  and  that  Joseph  was  innocent.3 

Now  one  of  the  neighbors  had  seen  all  that  took  place,  for 

1  Tract.  Sota.,  fol.  36,  col.  2  The  original  account  of  this  final  detail 
is  too  absurd  and  monstrous  to  be  narrated  more  particularly. 

2  Tabari,  i.  p.  217. 

3  Yaschar,  p.  1197.  Nearly  all  these  incidents  in  the  life  of  Joseph  are 
common  to  Jewish  and  Mussulman  tradition*. 


t 


*34 


OLD  TESTA  ME  XT  CHARACTERS. 


she  was  sick,  and  had  not  attended  the  feast,  so  the  whole  af¬ 
fair  was  soon  a  matter  of  gossip  throughout  the  town.  Ther 
Zuieika  invited  all  the  ladies  who  had  blamed  her  to  a  great 
feast  in  her  house  ;  and  towards  the  close  of  the  banquet,  when 
the  fruit  and  wine  were  brought  in,  an  orange  and  a  knife  were 
placed  before  each  lady  ;  and  at  the  same  moment  Joseph  was 
brought  into  the  room.  The  ladies,  in  their  astonishment,  cut 
their  fingers  in  mistake  for  the  oranges,  for  their  eyes  were  fixed 
upon  him,  and  they  were  amazed  at  his  beauty  ;  and  the  table 
was  deluged  with  blood. 

“  This,”  said  Zuieika,  “  is  the  youth  on  whose  account  you 
blame  me.  It  is  true  that  I  loved  him,  but  his  virtue  has  op¬ 
posed  me ;  and  now  love  is  turned  to  hate,  and  I  shall  cast 
him  into  prison.”  1 

She  was  as  good  as  her  word,  and  thus  it  fell  out  that  Jo¬ 
seph  was  placed  in  the  king’s  prison.  But  God  would  not  suf¬ 
fer  the  innocent  to  be  punished.  He  illumined  his  cell  with  a 
celestial  light,  made  a  fountain  spring  up  in  the  midst  of  it,  and 
a  fruit-bearing  tree  to  grow  before  the  door.2 

Joseph  wTas  five  years  in  prison,  and  then  the  King  of  the 
Greeks,  who  was  warring  against  Egypt,  sent  an  ambassador  to 
Rajjan  desiring  peace.  But  his  true  purpose  was  to  throw  him 
off  his  guard,  that  he  might  with  treachery  destroy  him.  The 
ambassador  sought  the  advice  of  an  old  Greek  woman  who  had 
long  lived  in  Egypt.  She  said,  “  I  know  of  only  one  way  of 
accomplishing  what  you  desire,  and  that  is  to  bribe  the  butler 
or  the  baker  of  the  king  to  poison  him  ;  but  it  would  be  better 
to  put  the  drug  in  the  wine  than  in  the  bread.” 

The  ambassador  then  bribed  the  chief  baker  with  much 
gold,  and  he  promised  to  put  poison  in  Pharaoh’s  meat.  After 
that  he  told  the  old  woman  that  one  of  the  two  she  had  named 
to  him  had  been  persuaded  to  destroy  the  king. 

Then  the  ambassador  returned,  and  when  he  was  gone,  the 
woman  disclosed  all  to  Pharaoh,  and  she  said,  u  Either  the  but¬ 
ler  or  the  baker  has  taken  a  bribe  to  poison  thee,  O  king.” 
Thereupon  the  king  cast  both  into  prison,  till  it  should  be  made 
manifest  which  was  guilty.  Now  the  name  of  the  baker  was 
Mohlib,  and  that  of  the  butler  was  Kamra. 


1  Tabari,  p.  220 ;  Weil,  p.  II2  ;  both  taken  from  the  Rabbinic  atory  ia 
Yaschar,  p.  1195. 

*  Weil,  p.  1 15. 


JOSEPH.} 


*35 


After  they  had  bee  1  in  prison  some  time,  they  had  dreams  ; 
and  they  told  their  dreams  to  Joseph. 

The  chief  butler  said,  “  I  saw  in  my  dream,  and,  behold,  a 
vine  was  before  me.  And  in  the  vine  were  three  branches 
and  as  it  sprouted  it  brought  forth  buds,  and  immediately  they 
ripened  into  clusters,  and  became  grapes.  And  I  saw  till  they 
gave  the  cup  of  Pharaoh  into  my  hand,  and  I  took  the  grapes 
and  squeezed  them  into  Pharaoh’s  cup,  and  I  gave  the  cup  into 
Pharaoh’s  hand.” 

And  Joseph  said  to  him,  “This  is  the  interpretation  of  the 
dream.  The  three  branches  are  the  three  Fathers  of  the  world, 
Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  whose  children  are  to  be  enslaved 
in  Egypt  in  clay  and  brickwork,  and  in  all  labors  of  the  face  of 
the  field  ;  but  afterward  shall  they  be  delivered  by  the  hand  of 
three  shepherds.  As  for  the  cup  thcu  didst  give  into  Pha¬ 
raoh’s  hand,  it  is  the  vial  of  the  wrath  of  God,  which  Pharoah  is 
to  drink  at  the  last.  But  thou,  the  chief  butler,  shalt  receive 
a  good  reward  :  the  three  branches  to  thee  are  three  days  un 
til  thy  liberation.” 

Joseph,  leaving  his  higher  trust  in  God,  now  turned  and  re¬ 
posed  it  in  man,  for  he  added,  “  Be  thou  mindful  of  me  when  it 
shall  be  well  with  thee,  and  obtain  my  release  from  this  prison- 
house.” 

And  the  chief  baker,  seeing  that  Joseph  had  interpreted 
well,  began  to  speak  with  an  impatient  tongue,  and  said  to  Jo¬ 
seph,  “  I  also  saw  in  my  dream,  and,  behold,  three  baskets  ofhot 
loaves  were  upon  my  head ;  and  in  the  upper  basket  of  all,  de¬ 
licious  meat  for  Pharaoh,  made  by  the  confectioner;  and  the 
birds  ate  them  from  the  basket  upon  my  head.” 

Joseph  answered,  “  This  is  its  interpretation.  The  three 
baskets  are  the  three  enslavements  with  ^vhich  the  house  of 
Israel  are  to  be  enslaved.  But  thou,  the  chief  baker,  shalt  re¬ 
ceive  an  evil  award.  At  the  end  of  three  days,  Pharoah  shall  take 
away  thy  head  from  thy  body,  and  will  hang  thee  upon  a  gib¬ 
bet,  and  the  birds  shall  eat  thy  flesh  from  off  thee.” 

And  it  fell  out  as  Joseph  had  foretold.  But  oecause 
Joseph  had  withdrawn  from  putting  his  trust  in  God,  and  had 
laid  it  on  man,  therefore  he  was  forgotten  by  the  butler  and 
left  in  prison  for  two  years  more.1 

Joseph  had  now  been  seven  years  in  prison,  and  this  is  why 


*  Targums,  i.  pp.  296-9  ;  Midrash.  fol.  45  ;  Yaschar,  p.  1200. 


236 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


he  had  been  so  long  there.  Potiphar’s  wife  persuaded  hei 
friends  to  bring  against  Joseph  the  same  accusation  that  she 
had  laid  against  him,  and  their  husbands  complained  to  Pha¬ 
raoh  ;  so  he  was  kept  in  prison  that  he  might  not  cause  strife 
and  evil  in  the  city.1 

When  the  seven  years  were  elapsed,  one  day  the  butler  came 
to  the  prison  and  bade  Joseph  follow  him  as  the  King  had 
been,  troubled  with  a  dream,  and  desired  to  have  it  explained. 
But  Joseph  refused  to  leave  till  his  innocence  was  proclaimed. 
He  named  to  the  butler  the  ladies  who  had  attended  the  ban¬ 
quet  of  Zuleika,  and  before  whom  she  had  confessed  that  she 
loved  him,  and  besought  that  they  might  be  called  as  witnesses 
before  the  king.  Pharoah  agreed ;  the  ladies,  when  interro¬ 
gated,  related  all  that  had  been  said,  and  Zuleika  herself  con 
fessed  the  truth. 

Then  Pharaoh  sent  and  fetched  Joseph  out  of  prison,  and 
gave  him  his  liberty. 

“  I  dreamed,”  said  the  king,  when  Joseph  stood  before  his 
throne,  “  that  seven  lean  cows  ate  seven  fat  cows,  and  that  seven 
empty  husks  ate  seven  full  ears  of  corn.  What  is  the  interpre¬ 
tation  of  this  dream?” 

“  God  will  give  thee  seven  fruitful  years,  and  then  seven  years 
of  famine,”  answered  Joseph.  “  Therefore  must  thou  gather 
together  all  the  superfluity  in  the  first  seven  years  to  sustain 
the  starving  people  in  the  seven  years  of  dearth.”2 

The  king  was  so  well  pleased  with  this  interpretation,  that 
he  made  Joseph  his  chief  treasurer  in  Potiphar’s  room.  Joseph 
went  through  all  the  land,  and  purchased  corn,  which,  on  ac¬ 
count  of  the  good  harvests,  was  at  a  very  low  price. 

One  day  as  he  rode  out  of  the  town  to  view  his  magazines, 
he  observed  a  beggar-woman  whose  whole  appearance  was 
most  woe-begone,  but  bespoke  her  having  seen  better  days. 
Joseph  approached  her  with  compassion,  and  held  out  to  her 
a  handful  of  gold.  She  hesitated  about  taking  it,  and  said, 
sobbjng,  “  Great  prophet  of  God  !  I  am  not  worthy  to  rec  eive 
this  at  thy  hand,  though  it  was  my  love  for  thee  which  was  the 
first  step  on  the  ladder  on  which  thou  mountedst  to  thy  pres¬ 
ent  exaltation.”  And  Joseph  saw  that  the  poor  beggar-woman 
was  Zuleika,  wife  of  Potiphar. 


1  Midrash,  fol.  45. 

*  Weil,  p.  116;  Tabari,  i.  c.  44  ;  Gen.  xli.  ;  Yaschar,  pp  1202-8. 


JOSEPH 


m 


He  asked  about  her  husband,  and  learned  that  shortly  after 
he  had  been  deposed  from  office,  he  had  died  of  distress  of 
mind  and  body.  „  “Thou  hast  thought  evil  of  me,”  she  said, 
“but  I  have  great  excuses,  thou  wast  so  beautiful;  and  more¬ 
over  I  was  young,  and  only  a  wife  in  name,  for  I  am  as  I  left 
my  mother’s  womb,  a  maiden,  with  the  seal  of  God  upon 
me.” 

Then  Joseph  was  filled  with  joy.  He  extended  his  hands 
to  her,  and  he  brought  her  to  the  king’s  palace,  and  she  was 
treated  there  with  care  as  a  sister,  till  she  recovered  her  bloom 
and  joy,  and  then  Joseph  took  her  to  be  his  wife.1  And 
by  her  he  had  two  .sons  before  the  seven  years  of  dearth 
began,  during  which  the  Egyptians  gave  first  their  gold,  and 
their  apparel  and  all  their  movable  goods ;  then  their  land, 
then  their  slaves,  and  last  of  all  themselves,  their  wives  and 
children,  as  bondsmen,  that  they  might  have  food. 

But  not  only  did  Egypt  suffer,  the  adjoining  lands  were  also 
afflicted  with  scarcity.  There  was  no  corn  in  Canaan,  and 
Jacob  sent  his  ten  sons  into  Egypt  to  buy  corn,  retaining  Ben¬ 
jamin  at  home.  He  cautioned  his  sons  not  to  create  mistrust 
by  their  numbers,  nor  cause  the  evil  eye  to  light  on  them,  and 
advised  them  to  enter  the  city  of  Pharaoh  by  different  gates, 
for  it  had  ten. 

But  Joseph  expected  that  his  brothers  would  be  coming  to 
Egypt,  and  therefore  he  bade  the  gatekeepers  every  day  bring 
him  the  names  of  those  who  had  entered  the  city.  One  day 
one  porter  gave  him  the  name  of  Reuben,  son  of  Jacob ;  and 
so  on  to  the  tenth,  Asher,  son  of  Jacob.  Joseph  at  once  gave 
orders  for  every  storehouse  to  be  closed  with  the  exception  of 
one,  and  gave  the  keepers  of  the  open  magazine  the  names  of 
his  brothers,  and  said  to  them,  “  When  these  people  arrive  take 
them  prisoners,  and  bring  them  before  me.” 

And  when  they  appeared  before  him,  he  charged  them  with 
being  spies  :  “For,”  said  he,  “if  ye  were  true  men,  ye  would 
have  come  in  together;  but  ye  entered  by  different  gates,  and 
that  shows  that  ye  are  set  upon  evil.” 2 

When,  to  excuse  themselves,  they  told  their  family  history, 

1  This  conclusion  of  the  loves  of  Zuleika  and  Joseph  completes  the  ro¬ 
mance,  and  makes  it  a  most  popular  subject  for  poets  in  the  East.  Both 
Jewish  and  Mussulman  traditions  give  Zuleika  a  very  different  character 
from  that  which  Iloly  Scripture  leads  one  to  attribute  to  her. 

*  Midrash,  Jalkut,  fol.  46. 


,38  OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS . 

he  bade  them  go  and  bring  Benjamin  down  to  him,  and,  to  se¬ 
cure  their  return,  he  kept  Simeon  in  prison  as  hostage. 

When  Joseph  wanted  to  imprison  Simeon,  his  brothers  de¬ 
sired  to  assist  him  by  force,  but  Simeon  refused  their  assistance. 
Joseph  ordered  seventy  fighting  men  of  Pharaoh’s  body-guard 
to  cast  him  down  and  handcuff  him.  But  when  they  approach¬ 
ed,  Simeon  gave  a  scream,  and  the  seventy  fell  back  on  the 
ground,  and  their  teeth  went  down  their  throats.  “Hah!” 
said  Joseph  to  his  son  Manasseh,  who  stood  near  him,  “  throw 
a  chain  about  his  neck.” 

Manasseh  dealt  Simeon  a  blow,  and  chained  him.  “  Then,” 
said  Simeon,  “  this  blow  comes  from  one  of  the  family.”  1 

Jacob,  reluctant  to  part  with  Benjamin,  was  however  obliged 
to  do  so,  being  pressed  with  famine.  Joseph  received  the 
brethren,  measured  out  to  them  the  wheat,  and,  by  his  orders, 
his  steward  secretly  put  the  silver  cup  of  Joseph  into  the  sack 
of  Benjamin.  Then  at  the  gate  of  the  city  they  were  charged 
with  theft,  and  were  brought  back  to  the  palace  of  Joseph. 

“  What  is  the  penalty  due  to  him  who  has  stolen  my  cup  ?  ” 
asked  Joseph. 

“  Let  him  be  thy  slave,”  answered  the  brethren,  feeling 
confident  in  their  innocence.  But  when  the  sacks  were  opened, 
and  his  cup  was  found  in  that  of  Benjamin,  they  said  to  their 
youngest  brother,  “  Woe  to  thee  !  what  hast  thou  done  ?  Wast 
thou  resolved  to  follow  the  example  of  thy  lost  brother,  who 
stole  his  grandfather  Laban’s  idol,  and  his  aunt’s  girdle?” 

But  as  they  had  sworn  to  their  father  to  restore  Benjamin 
to  him,  they  besought  Joseph  to  take  one  of  them  in  the  place 
of  Benjamin.  But  Joseph  persisted  that  he  would  keep  Ben¬ 
jamin. 

Then  said  Reuben  to  his  brothers,  “  Go  back  to  our  father, 
and  tell  him  all  'hat  has  occurred  ;  I,  the  eldest  of  you,  who 
undertook  on  th*  security  of  my  life  to  bring  Benjamin  home, 
must  remain  here  till  he  himself  calls  me  back,  for  he  will  see 
that  we  have  stood  hostages  for  a  thief.” 2 

Now  Reuben  had  a  fierce  temper,  and  when  he  became 
furious,  all  the  down  or  hair  on  his  skin  bristled  and  penetrated 
his  clothes  like  needles ;  he  pulled  off  his  head-gear,  and  utter¬ 
ed  a  scream  so  terrible  that  all  who  heard  it  died  of  terror. 
This  frenzy  of  Reuben’s  could  only  be  abated  by  one  of  the 


Midrash,  Jalkut.  fol.  46. 


9  Weil,  p.  12a. 


JOSEPH 


239 


family  of  Jacob  placing  his  hand  upon  him.  Reuben  went  up 
to  Joseph,  and  said,  “  0  great  one  of  Egypt,  I  am  in  a  rage , 
and  if  I  scream  out,  all  who  hear  me  will  die  of  fright.  Re¬ 
store  to  me  my  brother,  or  I  shall  scream,  and  then  thou  and 
all  the  inhabitants  of  Egypt  will  perish.” 

Joseph  knowing  that  Reuben  spoke  the  truth,  and  seeing 
his  hair  bristling  through  his  clothes  like  needle-points,  and 
knowing  also  that  if  any  one  of  the  house  of  Jacob  were  to  lay 
his  hand  on  the  body  of  Reuben,  his  force  would  pass  away, — 
he  said  to  Ephraim,  his  son,  “  Go  softly,  so  that  Reuben  may 
not  observe  thee,  and  lay  thine  hand  upon  his  shoulder  that 
his  anger  may  abate.”  Ephraim  did  as  he  was  bidden,  and  in¬ 
stantly  the  hairs  of  Reuben  sank,  and  his  fury  passed  away, 
and  he  felt  that  the  power  to  scream  was  gone  from  him. 

Then  Joseph  said  calmly,  “I  shall  retain  Benjamin,  do 
what  you  will.” 

Reuben  made  an  effort  to  scream,  but  it  was  unavailing. 
Then  astonishment  got  hold  of  him,  and  he  said  to  Joseph, 
“I  think  that  there  must  be  one  of  the  family  of  Jacob  in 
this  house.” 1 

Then  Joseph  ordered  Benjamin  to  be  chained.  And  when 
Judah  saw  this  he  roared  like  a  lion,  and  his  voice  was  so 
piercing,  that  Chuschim,  the  son  of  Dan,  who  was  in  Canaan, 
heard  him,  and  began  to  roar  also. 

And  Judah  drew  his  sword,  and  roared,  and  pursued  the 
Egyptian  soldiers  sent  to  bind  Benjamin,  and  the  fear  of  him 
fell  on  them  all,  and  they  fell,  and  he  smote  them  up  to  the 
gates  of  the  king’s  palace  ;  and  he  roared  again,  and  all  the 
walls  of  Memphis  rocked,  and  the  earth  shook,  and  Pharaoh 
was  shaken  off  his  throne  and  fell  on  his  face,  and  the  roar  of 
Judah  was  heard  four  hundred  miles  off. 

Joseph  feared  to  be  killed  by  Judah.  When  Judah  was 
angry,  blood  spirted  from  his  right  eye.  Judah  wore  five  sets 
of  clothes  upon  him,  one  above  another ;  and  when  he  was 
angry,  his  heart  swelled  so  as  to  tear  them  all.  Joseph,  fearing 
him,  roared  at  him,  and  his  voice  shivered  a  pillar  of  the  palace 
into  fine  dust,  so  that  Judah  thought,  “This  is  a  great  herol 
he  can  master  me.” 1 

1  Tabari,  i.  p.  247 ;  taken  from  the  Rabbinic  Yaschar  (Sepher  Hajas- 
char),  p.  1226, 

*  Midrash,  Jalkut.  fob  47 ;  Yaschar,  p.  1285  »  Berescheth  Rabba, 
fob  84,  col.  4, 


240 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


Then  said  Judah  to  Joseph,  “Let  our  brother  go,  or  we  will 
devastate  this  land.” 

Then  Joseph  answered,  “  Go  home,  and  tell  your  father  that 
a  wild  beast  has  devoured  him.” 

Then  Judah  beckoned  to  his  brother  Naphtali,  who  was  very 
swift  of  foot,  and  said  to  him,  “  Run  speedily  and  count  all  the 
streets  in  Egypt,  and  come  swiftly  back  and  tell  me.” 

But  Simeon  said,  “  There  is  no  need ;  I  will  break  a  stone 
out  of  the  mountains  and  throw  it  down  on  the  land  of  Egypt, 
and  will  utterly  destroy  it.”  1 

Then  Joseph  saw  that  it  was  not  well  to  press  them  further  ; 
so  he  took  a  bowl,  and  filled  it,  and  looked  into  it  as  though 
he  were  divining  by  it,  and  said  suddenly,  “Ye  are  liars !  Ye 
told  me  that  your  brother  Joseph  was  dead,  and  behold  he  is 
alive,  and  I  see  him  in  this  bowl !  Ye  sold  him.” 

Then  he  bade  Zuleika  bring  the  deed  of  sale,  and  he  handed 
it  to  Judah.  Thereupon  the  brothers  knew  him,  and  fell  down 
before  him,  and  besought  him  to  pardon  them. 

Then  he  told  them  how  God  had  exalted  him,  and  he  com¬ 
forted  their  hearts,  and  after  that  he  asked  news  of  his  father.. 

They  replied,  “  He  is  blind  with  grief  at  having  to  part  with 
Benjamin.” 

Therefore  Joseph  said,  “  Take  my  shirt  and  go  to  my  father, 
and  pass  my  shirt  before  his  face,  and  he  will  recover  his  sight. 
Then  take  all  that  you  have,  and  come  down  into  Egypt.”  2 

When  the  caravan  left  Memphis,  the  sons  of  Jacob  carried 
with  them  abundance  of  corn  and  the  shirt  of  Joseph  ;  and 
the  wind  was  in  their  backs,  and  blew  the  scent  of  the  shirt 
from  the  gate  of  Memphis  into  Canaan.  And  Jacob  snuffed 
the  wind,  and  said,  “O  women!  O  children!  I  can -smell 
Joseph.” 

They  all  thought,  “  He  is  deranged,”  but  they  said,  “  It  is 
forty  years  since  Joseph  died,  and  thou  canst  think  of  nothing 
else  ;  thou  art  always  insisting  that  he  is  alive.” 

When  the  caravan  was  near  the  dwelling  of  Jacob,  Judah 
brought  the  shirt  of  Joseph  in,  and  said,  “On  the  day  upon 
which  I  bore  the  bloody  coat  of  Joseph,  I  said  a  wolf  had 
devoured  him.  Now  I  bring  thee  good  news.”  And  he  cast 

i 

1  Yaschar,  p.  1226. 

*  This  was  the  shirt  given  Abraham  by  Gabriel,  to  preserve  him  from 
the  fire  into  which  Nimrod  cast  him ;  it  was  fragrant  with  the  odors  erf 
Paradise. 


JOSEPH. 


141 

the  shirt  upon  the  face  of  his  father,  and  Jacob  recovered  his 
sight.1 

The  story  in  the  Sepher  Hadjaschar,  or  Book  of  Jasher,  is 
more  poetical.  As  the  sons  were  approaching  the  home  of 
their  father,  Sarah,  the  adopted  daughter  of  Asher,  came  to 
meet  them.  She  was  very  beautiful  and  graceful  and  modest, 
and  could  play  sweetly  on  the  harp.  They  gave  her  the  kiss 
of  peace,  and  told  her  the  tidings.  Then  she  went  singing 
home,  accompanying  her  words  upon  the  harp,  “Joseph  is  not 
dead,  God  has  been  his  protector,  and  he  lives,  and  is  gov 
ernor  in  Egypt ;  rejoice  and  be  glad  of  heart !  ”  Then  Jacob 
was  filled  with  hope  and  .consolation,  and  he  said,  “  Because 
thou  hast  revived  my  spirit,  my  daughter,  death  shall  never 
seize  on  thee.” a 

After  that,  Jacob  went  down  into  Egypt,  that  he  might  see 
his  son  Joseph  before  he  died.  And  when  they  met,  they  fel 
on  one  another’s  neck  and  wept,  and  kissed ;  and  Jacob  said  to 
his  son,  “Tell  me,  I  pray  thee,  what  evil  thy  brothers  did  to 
thee.”  But  Joseph  answered,  “  Nay,  my  father,  I  will  tell  thee 
only  how  great  good  the  Lord  did  to  me.” 

We  have  heard  how  that  Joseph  married  Zuleika,  the  wife 
Potiphar,  but  this  is  not  a  universal  tradition.  It  is  said  in 
Genesis  that  he  had  to  wife  Asenath.  daughter  of  Potipherah, 
priest  of  On.  Many  suppose  that  this  Asenath  was  the 
daughter  of  Potiphar,  the  old  master  of  Joseph,  and  that  her 
mother  was  Dinah,  the  daughter  of  Jacob,  and  the  following 
story  is  related  of  Asenath  : — 

She  was  a  maid  of  wondrous  beauty,  of  which  she  was  very 
proud,  and  she  greatly  despised  all  men,  though  she  had  never 
seen  any,  saving  her  father.  She  dwelt  in  a  tower  next  to  her 
father’s  house,  ten  stories  high,  which  contained  every  thing  that 
the  eye  could  desire,  and  also  idols  in  gold  and  silver,  which 
she  daily  worshipped.  Asenath  was  as  tall  as  Sarah,  as 
comely  as  Rebekah,  and  as  beautiful  as  Rachel. 

Now  Joseph,  being  on  his  way  through  Egypt,  sent  down  ~o 
the  priest  Potipherah,  to  command  him  to  bring  his* daughter 
before  him.  Thereupon  Potipherah  was  glad,  and  told  his 
daughter  that  Joseph,  the  Strength  of  God.  was  coming,  and 
that  she  should  become  his  wife.  At  this  Asenaih  was  very 
indignant,  and  spoke  angry  words  of  Joseph,  declaring  that  she 


1  Koran,  Sura  xii.  ;  Tabari,  i.  pp.  250,  251. 


*  Yasch&r,  p.  1227. 


242 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


would  be  wife  to  no  man,  saving  to  a  king’s  son.  Now,  while 
she  thus  spake,  Joseph  came,  seated  in  the  chariot  of  Pharaoh, 
which  was  all  of  gold,  drawn  by  four  horses  white  as  snow, 
with  gilt  reins.  And  Joseph  was  dressed  in  a  radiant  tunic, 
with  gold  embroidery,  and  a  robe  of  crimson  woven  with  gold 
hung  from  his  shoulders,  and  a  fillet  of  gold  was  about  his  tem- 
p  es,  and  in  his  hand  was  an  olive  branch  full  of  fruit. 

Then  Potipherah  came  with  his  wife,  and  did  him  homage. 
Joseph  entered  the  hall,  and  the  doors  were  shut,  and  Asenath 
beheld  him,  and  she  was  troubled  at  what  she  had  said  of  him, 
and  thought,  “  This  is  the  sun  come  from  heaven  ;  I  knew  not 
before  that  Joseph  was  divine.  What  father  hath  begotten  so 
much  beauty,  or  what  mother  borne  so  much  light  ?  ” 

Then  Joseph  said,  “  Who  was  that  woman  that  was  here, 
but  hath  gone  ?  ”  for  Asenath  had  hastened  to  her  chamber. 

And  Potipherah  said,  “  My  lord,  my  daughter  is  a  maiden, 
and  very  modest ;  she  hath,  till  this  day,  seen  no  man  save  my¬ 
self.  If  it  please  thee,  she  shall  come  and  salute  thee.” 

Then  Joseph  said,  “If  thy  daughter  be  a  maiden,  I  will 
treat  her  as  a  sister.” 

They  brought  her  into  his  presence,  and  Potipherah  said  to 
her,  “  Salute  thy  brother,  who  hateth  womeri  as  thou  hatest 
men.” 

And  Asenath  said,  “  Hail,  blessed  of  God,  who  giveth  life 
to  all  1  ” 

Then  Potipherah  bade  his  daughter  kiss  Joseph,  but  when 
she  approached  him,  he  thrust  forth  his  hand  and  said,  “It 
becomes  not  the  man  worshipping  the  living  God  to  kiss  an 
outlandish  woman  whose  lips  kiss  dumb  idols.” 

Asenath  hearing  these  words,  fell  into  great  grief  and  wept. 
Joseph  had  compassion  on  her,  and  laid  his  hand  on  her  head 
and  blessed  her,  and  Asenath  was  glad  because  of  his  bene¬ 
diction.  But  she  went  to  her  couch  in  the  tower,  and  was  ill 
with  fear  and  pain,  and  she  turned  with  penitence  from  her 
idols,  and  renounced  them,  and  cast  them  out  of  her  window. 

Joseph  ate  and  drank,  and  went  his  way,  promising  to  le 
turn  in  eight  days.  Then  Asenath  put  on  a  black  robe,  and 
closed  her  door  and  prayed,  end  cast  her  food  to  the  dogs,  and 
laid  her  head  on  the  pavement,  and  wept  seven  days. 

Then  an  angel  visited  her,  and  gave  her  honey  gathered 
from  the  roses  of  paradise ;  and  the  honey  was  so  sweet,  that 
when  she  had  tasted  it  she  could  not  doubt  whence  it  had 


TESTAMENTS  OF  THE  PATRIARCHS. 


*43 


come,  and  she  felt  herself  enlightened  by  the  true  God  ;  and 
the  angel  signed  the  honey  with  the  cross,  and  the  trace  of  his 
finger  was  blood.  Along  with  faith  and  hope,  charity  enlight¬ 
ened  her  heart,  and  she  besought  of  the  angel  to  give  of  this 
honey  to  the  seven  maidens  who  attended  on  her  ;  and  when 
they  obtained  this  favor,  they  all  became  like  their  mistress, 
servants  of  the  Most  High.  Then  the  angel  bade  her  lay 
aside  her  tears  and  black  garment,  and  rejoice,  for  her  prayer 
was  heard. 

At  that  moment  one  of  the  servants  of  Potipherah  entered, 
saying,  “  Behold,  Joseph,  the  Strength  of  God,  approaches  ;  go 
ye  out  to  meet  him  ?  ” 

Now  when  Joseph  had  alighted  down  from  his  chariot,  he 
came  into  the  hall ;  and  when  he  knew  that  Asenath  had  cast 
away  her  idols,  he  rejoiced  greatly,  and  he  sought  her  in  mar 
riage  of  Potipherah,  and  the  Priest  of  On  made  a  great  supper, 
and  gave  his  daughter  to  Joseph,  and  he  called  Joseph  the 
lord  of  lords,  and  Asenath  he  called  the  daughter  of  the  Most 
High.1 


XXIX. 

THE  TESTAMENTS  OF  THE  TWELVE  PATRI¬ 
ARCHS. 

The  “Testaments  of  the  Twelve  Patriarchs”  is  one  of  the 
seventy-two  apocryphal  books  of  the  Old  Testament  which 
were  at  one  time  in  circulation,  and,  according  to  Epiphanius, 
it  formed  one  of  the  twenty-two  canonical  books  sent  by  the 
Jews  to  Ptolemy,  king  of  Egypt.2 

It  was  a  work  of  Jewish  origin,  which  has  been  tampered 
with  and  interpolated  by  Christian  copyists.  S.  Augustine 
numbers  it  with  the  Apocrypha  ;  he  says,  “  There  are  the  apoc¬ 
ryphal  books  of  the  Old  Testament :  the  works  falsely  attrib¬ 
uted  to  Enoch,  the  Patriarchs,  the  Discourse  of  Joseph,  the 
Assumption  of  Moses,  the  pseudographia  of  Abraham,  Eldad 
and  Medad,  Elias  the  prophet,  the  prophet  Zephaniah,  Zecha- 
riah,  Baruch,  Habakkuk,  Ezekiel,  and  Daniel.” 

1  Vita  Aseneth,  filioe  Potipharis ;  a  Greek  apocryphal  book,  in  Fabri 
crius,  iii.  p,  85. 

Lib.  de  Mensuris  et  Ponderibus,  ^  10. 


244 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


Curiously  enough,  the  Testament  of  the  Patriarchs  contains 
a  large  number  of  alleged  quotations  from  the  book  of  Enoch, 
which  are  not,  however,  to  be  found  in  that  book  as  we  now 
have  it. 

This  Testament  was  read  by  the  Jews  at  the  time  of  Christ’s 
coming,  and  S.  Paul  seems  to  have  been  acquainted  with  it,  for 
he  quotes  it,  “Awake,  thou  that  steepest ,  and  arise  from  the 
dead;”'  and  again  he  quotes  the  Testament  of  Levi,  “  The 
wrath  is  come  upon  them  to  the  uttermost.”  2  S.  Jerome  remarks 
on  this,  “  The  Apostle  Paul  quoted  from  the  hidden  prophets 
and  from  those  books  which  are  called  Apocrypha,”  and  he 
adds,  “  That  he  did  so  in  several  other  places  is  very  evident.” 3 
And  Origen  says,  “  It  is  evident  that  many  examples  were 
quoted  and  inserted  in  the  New  Testament  by  the  Apostles 
and  the  Evangelists  from  those  Scriptures  which  we  do  not 
read  as  canonical,  but  these  passages  are  found  in  the  apocry¬ 
phal  books,  and  it  is  evident  that  these  passages  were  extract¬ 
ed  from  them ;  ”  and  he  gives  the  reason  why  that  was  lawful 
to  the  Apostles  which  is  not  lawful  to  us. 

He  says,  “  It  may  have  been,  that  the  Apostles  and  Evan¬ 
gelists,  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  may  have  known  what  was 
to  be  taken  from  these  writings  and  what  was  to  be  rejected  ; 
but  for  us  to  presume  to  do  such  a  thing  would  be  full  of  dan¬ 
ger,  not  having  the  Spirit  in  the  same  measure  to  guide  us.”  4 

Robert  Grostete,  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  translated  the  Testa¬ 
ment  of  the  twelve  Patriarchs  into  Latin,  in  1242,  according 
to  Matthew  Paris.  “  Also  in  this  time,  Robert,  Bishop  of  Lin¬ 
coln,  a  man  most  skilled  in  Latin  and  Greek,  translated  accu¬ 
rately  the  Testaments  of  the  Twelve  Patriarchs  from  the  Greek 
into  Latin  ;  which  for  many  years  had  been  unknown  and 
concealed,  through  the  jealousy  of  the  Jews,  because  of  the 
prophecies  concerning  our  Saviour  therein  contained.  But 
the  Greeks,  the  most  indefatigable  investigators  of  all  writings, 
being  the  first  who  learnt  about  this,  translated  it  from  Hebrew 
into  Greek,  and  kept  it  to  themselves  until  our  own  time.  For 
-in  the  time  of  S.  Jerome,  or  of  any  other  holy  interpreter,  it 
could  not  in  any  way  whatever  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
Christians,  on  account  of  the  scheming  malice  of  the  Jews. 
Therefore  the  above-named  Bishop,  assisted  by  Master  Nich- 

1  Ephes.  v.  14.  2  Thess.  ii.  16.  3  Commen.  in  Eph.  loc.  cit. 

4  Prolog,  infin.  Duarum  Horn,  in  Cant.  Canticomm. 


JOB. 


^45 


olas,  Greek,  and  a  clerk  to  the  Abbey  of  St.  Albans,  translated 
clearly,  evidently,  and  word  for  word,  into  Latin,  that  glorious 
treatise,  to  the  strengthening  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  to  the 
greater  confusion  of  the  Jews.”  1 

The  Testaments  were  published  by  Grabe,  at  Oxford,  in 
1698,  and  were  republished  by  Fabricius  in  his  “  Codex 
Pseudepigraphus  Vet.  Testamenti,”  at  Hamburg,  in  1722.2 

XXX. 

JOB. 

Job  was  the  great  grandson  of  Esau.  He  was  the  son  of 
Amos  the  son  of  Zara,  the  son  of  Esau,  and  he  had  to  wife 
Rahma,  daughter  of  Ephraim,  son  of  Joseph.  Ephraim  left 
two  sons,  who  were  prophets  after  him  ;  but  amongst  the 
children  of  Esau  there  was  no  prophet,  saving  Job. 

Job  was  more  patient  than  any  other  prophet  ;  therefore 
it  is  said  of  him  in  the  Koran,  “  Certainly  we  have  found  this 
excellent  servant  patient.”  3 4 5 

The  Rabbis  say  that  Job,  Jethro,  and  Balaam  were  King 
Pharaoh’s  three  councillors,  and  they  were  also  his  chief 
magicians.  They,  by  their  enchantments,  drew  a  line  round 
the  land  of  Egypt,  so  that  no  slave  could  escape  out  of  it; 
for  when  he  came  to  the  line,  he  was  held  back  and  could 
not  overleap  it.  But  when  the  Israelites  broke  away  and 
disregarded  the  enchanted  line,  Job,  Jethro,  and  Balaam  gave 
t.p  their  witchcrafts,  and  turned  to  the  service  of  the  living 
God. 

Job  lived  in  Bashan,  which  lies  between  Damascus  and 
Ramla,  and  there  he  reigned  as  a  prince.  Job  had  five  hun¬ 
dred  yoke  of  oxen,  and  to  every  yoke  there  was  a  she-ass  to 
carry  the  instruments  of  husbandry.  He  had  also  a  thousand 
flocks  of  sheep,  and  a  thousand  sheep  in  each  flock.  He  had 
ten  children,  seven  sons  and  three  daughters  ;  all  were  grown 
up. 

In  the  “  Testament  of  Job,”  we  read  that  this  great  man, 

1  Matt.  Paris,  Chronicle,  ed.  Bohn.  vol.  i.  pp.  437,  438. 

2  T.  i,  pp.  496-7  59- 

3  Koran.  Sura  xxxviii.  v.  43-4.  Job  in  Arabic  is  Ai'ub. 

4  Eiscumenger,  ii,  p.  430.  Tabari,  i.  p.  256. 

5  Mai  (Angelus)  Test.  Job  :  Rome,  1839. 


246 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


illumined  by  the  Divine  light,  comprehended  that  the  idols 
which  his  people  adored  were  no  gods,  and  that  there  was  but 
one  only  true  God,  the  Creator  and  Preserver  of  all  things. 
There  was  near  his  house  an  idol  which  attracted  great  wor¬ 
ship.  He  prayed  the  Lord  to  show  him  whether  this  idol  were 
a  demon  or  not ;  and  he  promised,  in  that  case,  to  destroy 
it  and  purify  the  place  ;  and  this  he  was  able  to  do,  being  a  sov¬ 
ereign. 

God  sent  him  an  angel,  who  illumined  him,  and  strength¬ 
ened  him  in  his  resolution.  So  he  destroyed  the  idol,  and  abol¬ 
ished  its  worship.  But  this  act  drew  upon  him  the  wrath  of 
Satan.  The  angel  had  foreseen  the  disasters  which  would  be¬ 
fall  Job  if  he  resolved  to  strive  against  the  Evil  One,  and  he 
had  warned  Job  what  to  expect ;  but  Job  answered  that,  being 
convinced  of  the  truth,  he  was  ready  to  suffer  for  it. 

Satan  presented  himself  at  the  door  of  Job’s  house.  He 
had  taken  upon  him  the  form  of  a  pilgrim,  and  he  said  to  the 
portress,  “  I  desire  to  see  the  faithful  servant  of  the  Most 
High.” 

Now  Job,  who  had  received  the  gift  of  prophecy,  knew  that 
this  was  the  Evil  One,  and  he  refused  to  see  him,  saying  to  the 
gate-keeper  when  she  brought  the  message,  “Tell  him  that 
I  am  occupied,  and  that  I  cannot  receive  him.  ” 

Satan  retired,  but  he  returned  soon  after,  disguised  as  a 
beggar,  and  he  said  to  the  portress,  “  Go  and  ask  Job  to  give 
me  a  morsel  of  bread.” 

“  Tell  him,”  replied  Job,  “that  I  will  not  give  him  of  the 
bread  I  eat,  because  I  will  not  have  any  thing  in  common  with 
him.  But  offer  him  this  burnt  crust,  that  he  may  not  say  1 
sent  him  empty  away.” 

The  servant,  not  venturing  to  give  the  burnt  crust,  because 
she  was  not  aware  who  the  beggar  was,  offered  him  some  good 
bread.  But  Satan,  who  knew  what  Job  had  commanded,  thrust 
it  away,  saying,  “  Begone,  bad  servant,  and  bring  me  the  bread 
you  were  told  to  give  me.” 

The  portress  replied :  “You  say  well,  I  am  a  bad  servant, 
for  I  have  not  done  that  which  I  was  commanded  to  do.  Here 
is  the  crust  my  master  ordered  me  to  give  you.  He  will  not 
have  any  thing  in  common  with  you  ;  no  !  not  even  the  bread 
he  eats  ;  but  he  sends  you  this,  that  it  may  not  be  said  of  him 
that  he  dismissed  thee  empty  from  his  door  without  an  alms.” 

Satan  took  the  charred  crust,  and  bade  the  servant  tell  Job 


JOB. 


247 


that  he  would  soon  render  to  him  such  measure  as  he  had 
dealt  to  him.1 

Then  Satan  ascended  to  God,  and  desired  permission  to 
afflict  and  prove  Job.  And  when  leave  was  given  him,  he  de¬ 
scended  to  earth,  and  breathed  such  a  hot  blast,  that  all  the 
cattle,  and  sheep,  and  servants  of  Job  were  burnt  up.  Then 
Satan  took  the  form  of  a  slave,  and  ran  and  told  the  prophet. 
Job  answered,  “  The  Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away  ; 
blessed  be  the  na?ne  of  the  Lord  l  ” 

Then  Satan  went  and  shook  the  earth  under  the  house 
where  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Job  were  assembled,  and  the 
house  fell  and  destroyed  them  all. 

Satan  immediately  hastened  in  the  disguise  of  a  servant  to 
Job,  and  told  him  what  had  taken  place.  He  said,  uO  Job  ! 
God  has  shaken  down  the  house  about  your  children,  and  they 
are  dead.  Had  you  seen  their  bleeding  faces  and  broken 
limbs,  and  their  brains  bespattering  the  stones,  and  had  heard 
their  piercing  cries,  you  would  have  been  heart-broken.” 

Job  wept,  and  lifted  his  eyes  to  God;  and  he  knew  who 
addressed  him,  and  he  said,  “  Satan !  it  is  thou  who  comest  to 
tempt  me  and  to  cast  doubt  into  my  heart,  and  mistrust  in  the 
wisdom  and  goodness  of  God  ;  get  thee  hence.” 

Satan  then  blew  a  hot  breath  up  the  nose  of  Job,  and 
poisoned  all  his  blood.  His  body  became  scarlet  next  day, 
and  the  day  after  was  covered  with  ulcers  from  head  to  foot ; 
there  was  no  whole  place  in  him,  except  the  head,  the  tongue, 
the  eyes,  and  the  heart ;  for  over  these  portions  God  had  not 
given  Satan  power. 

All  Job’s  friends  deserted  him  and  fled  ;  Rahma,3  his  wife, 
alone  remained,  and  she  spent  on  him  the  rest  of  his  posses¬ 
sions,  but  he  was  not  cured  of  his  disease.  And  this  was  why 
all  his  possessions  went — Satan  stole  them  away ;  and  thus  in 
a  short  time  he  was  reduced  to  penury,  and  Rahma  went  from 
house  to  house  begging  alms  for  his  support. 

Satan  saw  that  he  could  not  triumph  so  long  as  the  wife 
remained  with  her  husband  ;  she  was  a  comfort  and  joy  to 
him,  and  he  cared  not  for  possessions,  or  children,  or  health, 
so  long  as  his  wife  was  at  his  side ;  therefore,  he  sought  occa¬ 
sion  to  separate  them.  One  day,  as  Rahma  was  carrying  food 

*  Mai'  (Angelus),  Test,  Job  ;  Homs,  1839. 

*  In  the  “  Testament  of  Job”  she  is  called  Sitia. 


248 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


to  Job,  Satan  presented  himself  before  her  in  the  form 
of  an  old  man,  and  asked  her,  “  O  Rahma  !  art  thou  not  the 
daughter  of  Ephraim,  the  son  of  Joseph  ?  ”  She  replied,  “  I  am.” 

Then  said  the  Evil  Angel,  “  In  what  condition  do  I  see 
thee  ?  ”  She  answered,  “  My  husband  Job  has  fallen  into  pov¬ 
erty,  and  I  serve  him.” 

He  said,  “  Do  not  serve  him,  for  when  thou  touchest  him, 
the  poison  of  his  disease  passes  into  thy  veins.” 

She  replied,  “He  is  my  husband,  and  I  must  attend  on 
him  as  long  as  I  live,  in  health  or  sickness.” 

Then  Satan  retired,  despairing  of  seducing  her  from  her 
duty.  Rahma  told  Job  all  that  had  been  said  to  her. 

The  prophet  said,  “  O  woman  !  he  whom  you  have  seen 
is  Satan,  and  he  desired  to  separate  us.  Do  not  speak  to 
him  again  when  he  addresses  you.” 

Some  time  after,  the  Evil  One  presented  himself  before  the 
faithful  wife  under  the  form  of  a  beautiful  youth  ;  and  said 
to  her,  “  What  woman  art  thou,  who  art  so  radiant  in  beauty  ?  ” 
She  answered,  “  I  am  the  wife  of  a  poor  man,  named  Job.” 

He  said,  “  O  woman  !  what  hast  thou,  with  thy  wondrous 
beauty,  to  do  with  a  poor  sick  husband  ?  Go,  be  divorced 
from  thy  husband,  and  marry  me.  I  have  great  possessions, 
•and  I  will  treat  thee  as  a  queen.” 

She  answered,  “  I  am  the  wife  of  a  prophet ;  I  desire  noth¬ 
ing  higher.” 

Then  Satan  withdrew,  despairing  of  seducing  her  from 
her  duty.  Rahma  told  Job  all  that  had  been  said  to  her. 

Job  said,  “  O  woman  !  did  I  not  tell  thee  to  speak  with 
him  no  more  ;  why  hast  thou  disobeyed  my  voice  ?  That 
was  Satan,  and  he  sought  to  separate  us.  Do  not  speak  to 
him  again  when  he  addresses  thee.” 

Some  time  after,  the  Evil  One  presented  himself  before 
the  faithful  wife,  under  the  form  of  an  angel ;  and  said  to  her, 
“  O  woman,  daughter  of  a  prophet  !  I  am  an  angel  sent  from 
God  with  a  message  to  thee.” 

She  said,  “  What  message  ?  ” 

He  said,  “  Behold  the  Most  High  is  wroth  with  Job,  for 
he  renders  no  thanks  for  all  the  good  things  He  gave  to  him  ; 
therefore  hath  the  Lord  rejected  him  from  being  a  prophet, 
and  he  shall  fall  from  worse  to  worse,  till  he  is  cast  into  the 
flames  of  hell ;  we,  the  angels  of  God,  curse  him,  and  do  thou, 
daughter  of  a  prophet,  avoid  him  lest  thou  come  into  the 
same  condemnation.” 


249 


JOB. 

When  Rahma  heard  these  words,  she  wept,  and  said,  “  Af¬ 
ter  so  many  afflictions,  shall  the  name  of  Job  be  taken  from 
the  number  of  the  prophets  ?  And  after  so  many  sufferings 
shall  he  perish  everlastingly  ?  ” 

Then  she  went  to  Job  and  told  him  all  that  had  been  said 
to  her. 

Job  was  greatly  angered  when  she  told  him  the  tenor  of 
the  words,  and  he  cried  out,  “  Have  I  not  warned  thee  these 
two  times  not  to  speak  with  him,  who  is  the  author  of  my  af 
fliction?  Wait  till  I  am  well,  and  1  will  give  thee  a  hundred 
strokes  with  a  rod.”  1 

But  the  story  is  told  differently  by  others.  It  is  said  that 
the  third  time  Satan  appeared  as  a  baker,  and  Rahma  wanted 
bread,  but  had  nought  to  pay.  Then  said  the  pretended  baker, 
“  Thou  hast  locks  of  very  beautiful  hair ;  cut  off  thy  hair  and 
give  it  me,  and  thou  shalt  take  the  largest  of  my  loaves.” 

Then  she  cut  off  three  locks  and  gave  them  to  him. 

And  when  Job  saw  that  she  had  done  this,  he  was  filled 
with  fury,  and  he  swore  that  when  he  was  well  he  would  beat 
her  for  having  cut  off  her  hair.* 

Thus  Satan  triumphed  in  making  Job  to  sin  by  swearing, 
and  threatening  to  ill-treat  a  true  and  good  woman. 

Next  the  Evil  One  went  as  an  angel,  and  announced  to  aL 
the  people  of  the  land  that  he  came  from  God  to  declare  to 
them  that  Job  was  no  more  reckoned  among  the  prophets  ; 
and  that  they  were  not  to  trust  his  words  and  believe  his  doc¬ 
trine,  but  were  to  return  to  the  worship  of  those  gods  he  had 
blasphemed  and  cast  out. 

Soon  after,  Job  heard  his  three  friends,  Bildaa,  Eliphaz, 
and  Zophar,  converse  together,  and  repeat  what  had  been  told 
them  by  Satan  ;  and  the  thought  that  he  was  supposed  to  be 
rejected  by  God  from  among  His  prophets,  was  so  distressing 
to  him,  that  he  cried  out,  “  Truly,  O  God !  evil  has  befallen  me  \ 
but  Thou  art  the  most  merciful  of  those  who  show  mercy.”  8 
That  is,  the  words  of  men  are  cruel,  but  Thou,  O  God,  wilt  de¬ 
liver  me  out  of  all  my  evils. 

Job  was  sick  for  seven  years,  and  all  that  while  his  wife  min« 
istered  to  him. 

But  the  mediaeval  commentators  draw  a  very  different  pic- 

1  Taban,  i.  c.  lxvi ;  Abulfeda,  pp.  27-29.  9  Testament  of  Job. 

*  Koran,  Sura  xxi.  v.  S3. 


250 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


ture  of  this  wife,  relying  on  the  words  of  Scripture  which  make 
her  tempt  Job  to  “  curse  God  and  die.”  They  say  that  her 
tongue  was  one  of  the  plagues  of  Job.  That  he  bore  patiently 
the  loss  of  his  cattle,  of  his  children,  and  of  his  health  was  in¬ 
deed  wonderful  ;  but  that  he  akso  endured  the  nagging  of  his 
wife  with  equanimity, — that  was  the  most  wonderful* of  all. 

Then  God  looked  on  Job  and  had  compassion  upon  him, 
and  he  said  to  him,  “  Strike  the  earth  with  thy  foot.”  1  Job 
stamped,  and  from  the  dung-heap  on  which  he  had  been 
seated  a  clear  stream  of  water  issued,  the  sweetest  that  there 
is,  and  the  water  continued  to  flow.  Then  God  said  to  Job, 
“Wash  in  this  water.” 

Rahma,  the  wife  of  Job,  poured  the  water  upon  his  head 
and  over  his  body,  and  he  washed  himself.  All  the  sores  that 
were  on  his  flesh  disappeared,  and  he  was  healed  ;  there  was 
not  a  scar  left,  and  he  appeared  more  beautiful  than  before 
he  was  afflicted. 

Then  God  said  to  Job,  “  Drink  of  the  water.” 

Then  all  the  worms  that  were  in  the  inside  of  Job  died, 
and  he  was  quite  whole.  Now  this  took  place  in  Bashan,  and 
the  fountain  remains  to  this  day,  and  is  called  Qarya-Aiyub, 
and  the  city  near  which  it  is,  Airs-Aiyub.  “  I  have  seen  the 
city  of  the  fountain,”  says  the  Persian  translator  of  Tabari : 
“  every  person  who  goes  there,  affected  by  internal  or  external 
maladies,  and  washes  and  drinks  of  that  water,  is  healed  of  his 
disease.”  2 

Then  God  said  to  Job,  “  Fulfil  thy  vow,  and  take  in  thine 
hand  a  bundle  of  rods.”  3  But  the  rods  God  told  him  to  take 
were  light  sticks  ;  and  he  took  a  hundred  of  these,  and  bound 
them  together  and  smote  Rahma  with  them,  and  he  did  not 
hurt  her.  By  this  action  of  Job,  the  Mussulman  doctors  sup¬ 
port  their  advice  to  those  who  have  taken  rash  oaths  to  clear 
themselves  by  a  subterfuge.  Thus,  if  a  man  has  sworn  he  will 
not  enter  his  house  again,  he  is  recommended  to  allow  himself 
to  be  bound  hand  and  foot  and  be  carried  into  his  home.  Or, 
if  he  has  sworn  to  recite  the  whole  Koran,  it  will  be  sufficient 
for  him  to  say  the  word  “  Koran,”  and  listen  to  the  imaum 
reading  before  the  assembly. 

Then  God  restored  to  Job  double  all  that  he  had  lost ;  and 


1  Koran,  Sura,  xxxviii.  v.  41. 
3  Koran,  Sura,  xxxviii.  v.  43. 


2  Tabari,  i.  p.  263. 


JETHRO . 


Job  lived,  after  he  was  recovered  of  his  disease,  twenty  years, 
and  he  died  at  the  age  of  ninety-three. 

The  worms  which  had  devoured  the  body  of  the  prophet, 
God  turned  into  silk-worms  ;  and  the  flies  which  had  bitten  him 
and  tormented  his  sores,  converted  He  into  honey-bees;  and 
before  this  there  were  neither  silk-worms  nor  honey-bees  on 
the  earth.  Also  the  rain  and  the  snow  which  fell  within  his 
possessions,  were  grains  of  gold  and  pearl. 

Isidore  of  Seville  places  the  fountain  which  cured  Job  in 
Idumaea.  He  says,  it  is  dear  during  three  months  of  the  year, 
troubled  during  the  next  three,  then  for  three  months  it  is 
green,  and  for  the  last  three,  it  is  red. 

In  the  “Testament  of  Job,”  we  read  some  details  con¬ 
cerning  his  death,  written  by  his  brother  Nahor. 

After  three  days  of  sickness,  Job,  lying  on  his  bed,  saw 
the  angels  come  to  receive  his  soul.  After  having  divided  his 
substance  between  his  seven  sons  (for;,  after  his  troubles,  he 
became  the  father  of  seven  sons  and  three  daughters),  he  gave 
his  daughters  three  mantles  of  inestimable  price,  which  he  had 
received  from  heaven.  To  the  eldest,  Hemera  (Jemima),  he 
gave  his  harp  ;  to  the  second,  Cassia  (Keziah),  he  handed  his 
censer  ;  to  the  third,  Keren-happuch,  he  remitted  his  tam- 
borine  :  and  as  he  sang  his  last  hymn  to  the  Most  High  on 
his  death-bed,  Hemera  and  Keren-happuch  accompanied  him 
with  harp  and  timbrel,  and  Cassia  cast  up  fumes  of  sweet  in¬ 
cense.  Thus  they  greeted  the  messengers  of  heaven  who 
came  for  the  soul  of  Job. 


XXXI. 

JETHRO. 

As  has  already  been  related,  Jethro  formed  one  of  the 
council  of  Pharaoh  till  he  found  that  his  incantations  had  no 
effect  on  the  Israelites.  He  escaped  from  Egypt  before  Job ; 
for  he  had  found  in  the  oalace  of  the  king  the  staff  of  Joseph 
which  had  been  cut  from  the  Tree  of  Life,  and  therewith  he 
hied  him  into  the  land  of  Midian,  along  with  his  daughter 
Zipporah. 

According  to  Mussulman  tradition,  Jethro,  whom  the  Arabs 
call  Schohair  or  Schohaib,  was  a  great  prophet  ;  and  he  was 


252 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


sent  by  God  to  the  Midianites  to  call  them  to  repentance  and 
the  rejection  of  polytheism.  Jethro  was  old  and  nearly  blind, 
lie  preached  to  the  people  and  exhorted  them  with  many 
words  and  for  a  long  season,  but  all  his  words  were  in  vain ; 
the  Midianites  would  not  be  converted,  and  at  length  they 
openly  accused  him  of  being  a  false  prophet,  and  denied  that 
God  had  sent  him. 

Therefore  God  gave  over  this  nation  to  destruction.  He 
sent  a  fiery  breath  upon  the  land,  and  the  people  could  not 
bear  the  great  heat,  and  retired  into  the  fields,  where  there  was 
shadow ;  for  God  sent  a  cloud  to  hide  the  face  of  the  sun, 
and  it  cast  a  blot  of  shade  upon  the  fields.  But  there  were 
old  men  and  women  and  little  children,  and  the  sick  who  could 
not  leave  the  city  and  take  refuge  in  the  shade. 

Slowly  the  cloud  came  down  from  heaven,  like  the  lid  of  a 
saucepan,  and  covered  all  the  Midianites  that  were  in  the  field, 
and  the  cloud  was  of  fire,  and  they  fried  “as  fish  fry  in  an 
^oven.”  Then  the  angel  Gabriel  gave  a  great  shout,  and  all 
that  were  in  the  city,  saving  Jethro  and  his  family,  died  of 
fright  when  they  heard  his  cry. 

Then  Jethro  lived  in  the  land  of  Midian  till  Moses  came 
to  him  out  of  Egypt.1 


XXXII. 

MOSES.* 

I.  ISRAEL  IN  EGYPT. 

After  the  death  of  Jacob,  his  descendants  were  drawn 
into  servitude  by  soft  and  hypocritical  speeches.  Fifty-four 
years  had  passed  since  the  death  of  Joseph. 

Joseph  had  had  the  good  fortune  to  acquire  the  favor  of 
M  jchron,  the  son  and  successor  of  that  Pharoah  who  had 

1  Tabari,  i.  c.  lxvii  ;  Abulfeda  p.  31. 

*  The  early  portion  of  the  life  of  Moses  has  been  elaborated  from 
Rabbinic  sources  by  Dr.  B.  Beer.  Unfortunately  he  died  before  the  work 
was  completed,  and  it  has  been  published  as  a  fragment  by  his  friend,  U. 
Wolf.  It  extends  only  as  far  as  his  marriage  with  Zipporoh.  (Leben 
Moses  nach  Auffassung  der  J iidischen  Sage,  von  Dr.  B.  Beer;  ein  Frag¬ 
ment.  Leipzig,  1863.)  It  is  for  the  most  part,  compiled  from  the  Sepher 
Hajasher,  or  Book  of  Jasher. 


MOSES 


*53 


raised  him  from  the  dungeon  to  be  second  in  the  kingdom. 
Almost  all  the  inhabitants  of  Egypt  had  loved  Joseph  ;  only  a 
few  voices  were  raised  in  murmurs  at  a  foreigner  exercising 
such  extensive  powers. 

The  successors  of  the  patriarchs  mingled  among  the  people 
of  the  land  and  learned  their  ways  ;  and  many  of  them  aban¬ 
doned  the  rite  of  circumcision,  and  spoke  the  language  of 
Mizraem. 

Then  God  withdrew  His  protection  for  a  while ;  and  the 
former  love  of  the  Egyptians  towards  the  Hebrews  u-as  turned 
into  implacable  hatred.  By  degrees  the  privileges  of  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Israel  were  encroached  upon,  and  they  were  oppressed 
with  heavy  taxes,  from  which  hitherto  they  had  been  held 
exempt. 

Afterwards  the  king  exacted  from  them  their  labor  with¬ 
out  pay  ;  he  built  a  great  castle  and  required  the  Hebrews  to 
erect  it  for  him  at  their  own  cost. 

Twenty-two  years  after  the  death  of  Joseph,  Levi  died,  who 
had  outlived  all  his  other  brothers. 

Fields,  vineyards,  and  houses,  which  Joseph  had  given  to 
his  brethren,  were  now  reclaimed  by  the  natives  of  Egypt,  and 
the  children  of  Israel  were  enslaved. 

The-Egyptians,  effeminate,  and  hating  work,  fond  of  pleasure 
and  display,  had  envied  the  prosperity  of  the  Hebrews,  who 
had  thriven  in  Goshen,  and  whose  wives  bore  sometimes  six 
and  sometimes  twelve  infants  at  a  birth. 

They  also  feared  lest  this  people,  increasing  upon  them, 
should  become  more  numerous  than  they,  and  should  seize  upon 
the  power,  and  enslave  the  native  population. 

Nine  years  after  the  death  of  Joseph,  King  Mechron  died, 
and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Melol. 

But  before  pursuing  the  history  of  the  oppression  of  the 
Hebrews,  we  must  relate  some  events  that  had  occurred  before 
this  time. 

When  the  body  of  Jacob,  according  to  the  last  will,  had 
been  taken  to  the  cave  of  Machpelah,  Esau  and  his  sons  and  a 
large  body  of  followers  hastened  to  oppose  the  burial  of  Jacob. 
After  the  death  of  Isaac,  Esau  and  Jacob  had  come  to  an  agree¬ 
ment,  by  which  all  the  movable  property  of  the  father  was 
made  over  to  Esau,  and  all  that  was  immovable,  especially 
the  burial  cave,  was  apportioned  to  Jacob.  But  now  Esau  de¬ 
sired  to  set  aside  this  agreement,  and,  as  first-bora,  to  clai® 


*54 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


the  tomb  as  his,  trusting  that  the  sons  of  Jacob  could  not  prove 
the  agreement. 

But  no  sooner  had  he  raised  this  objection,  than  Naphtali, 
who  was  swift  of  foot,  ran  into  Egypt,  and  returned  in  a  few 
hours  witli  the  writing  of  agreement. 

Esau,  seeing  himself  baffled,  had  recourse  to  arms ;  and  a 
fight  took  place,  in  which  Esau  was  killed,  and  his  followers 
were  put  to  flight  or  taken  as  captives  to  Egypt,  where  they  be¬ 
came  the  slaves  of  the  Israelites.  Amongst  those  captives  was 
Zepho,  son  of  Eliphaz,  son  of  Esau. 

Even  in  Joseph’s  lifetime,  the  Edomites  made  incursions 
into  Egypt  to  recover  their  captive  relatives,  but  their  attempts 
led  to  no  other  result  than  the  tightening  of  the  chains  which 
bound  the  captives.  Later,  however,  Zepho  succeeded  in  ef¬ 
fecting  his  escape,  and  he  took  refuge  with  Angias,  king  of  Din- 
haba  (Ethiopia),  who  made  him  chief  captain  of  his  host. 

Zepho  persuaded  the  king  to  make  war  upon  Egypt.  Among 
the  servants  of  Angias  was  a  youth  of  fifteen,  named  Balaam, 
son  of  Beor,  very  skilful  in  the  arts  of  witchcraft.  The  king 
bade  the  youthful  necromancer  divine  who  wrould  succeed  in 
the  proposed  war.  Balaam  formed  chariots  and  horses  and 
fighting  men  of  wax,  plunged  them  in  water,  w'hich  he  stirred 
with  palm  twigs ;  and  it  wras  seen  by  all  who  stood  by,  that  the 
men  and  horses  representing  the  Egyptians  and  Hebrews 
floated,  whereas  those  representing  the  Ethiopians  sank. 

Angias,  deterred  by  this  augury,  refused  to  have  any  thing 
to  do  with  a  war  against  Egypt.  Then  Zepho  left  him,  and  be¬ 
took  himself  to  the  land  of  the  Hittites,  and  he  succeeded  in 
combining  that  nation,  the  Edomites,  and  the  Ishmaelites  to¬ 
gether  in  making  an  invasion  of  Egypt. 

To  repel  them,  the  Hebrews  were  summoned  from  the  land 
of  Goshen,  but  the  Egyptians  would  not  receive  their  allies  into 
the  camp,  fearing  lest  they  should  unite  with  their  kindred  na¬ 
tions,  and  deliver  them  up  to  destruction. 

Zepho  now  asked  Balaam,  who  had  followed  him,  to  divine 
the  end  of  the  battle,  but  the  attempt  failed  ;  and  the  future  re¬ 
mained  closed  to  him.  But  Zepho,  full  of  confidence,  led  the 
combined  army  against  the  Egyptians,  repulsed  them  at  every 
point,  and  drove  them  back  upon  the  camp  of  the  Hebrews. 
Then  the  Israelites  charged  the  advancing  forces  flushed  with 
victory,  who,  little  expecting  such  a  determined  onslaught,  were 
thrown  into  confusion,  and  routed  with  great  loss.  The  He- 


MOSES. 


255 


brews  pursued  them  to  the  confines  of  Ethiopia,  cutting  them 
down  all  along  the  way,  and  then  they  desisted  and  returned  : 
and  on  numbering  their  band — they  were  but  a  handful — they 
found  that  they  had  not  lost  one  man.  They  now  looked  out 
for  their  allies,  the  Egyptians,  and  found  that  they  had  desert¬ 
ed  and  fled  ;  therefore,  full  of  wrath,  they  returned  to  Goshen 
in  triumph,  and  slew  the  deserters,  with  many  words  of  con¬ 
tempt  and' ridiculed 

Thus  the  Hebrews  were  puffed  up  with  pride,  regarding 
themselves  as  invincible  ;  and  the  Egyptians  were  filled  with 
dread,  lest  this  small  people  should  resolve  on  seizing  upon  the 
supremacy,  and  should  subjugate  them. 

Therefore  the  reigning  Pharaoh  and  his  council  assembled 
to  consult  what  should  be  done  ;  and  this  was  decided  : — “  The 
cities  Pithom  and  Rameses  (Tards  and  Heliopolis)  are  not 
strong  enough  to  withstand  a  foe,  therefore  they  must  be 
strengthened. ”  And  a  royal  decree  went  forth  over  all  the 
land  of  Egypt  and  Goshen,  commanding  all  the  inhabitants, 
both  Egyptians  and  Hebrews,  to  build.  Pharaoh  himself  set 
the  example  by  taking  trowel  and  basket  in  hand,  and  putting 
a  brick  mould  on  his  neck.  Whoever  saw  this  hastened  to  do 
likewise,  and  all  who  were  reluctant  were  stimulated  by  the 
overseers  with  these  wrords,  “  See  how  the  king  works.  Will 
you  not  imitate  his  activity  ?  ” 

Thus  the  Israelites  went  to  the  work,  and  laid  the  mould 
upon  their  necks,  little  suspecting  the  guile  that  was  in  the 
hearts  of  the  king  and  his  councillors. 

At  the  close  of  the  first  day,  the  Hebrews  had  made  a  large 
number  of  bricks ;  and  this  number  was  now  imposed  upon 
them  as  the  amount  of  their  daily  task. 

Thus  passed  a  month,  and  by  degrees  the  Egyptian  work¬ 
men  were  withdrawn,  yet  the  Hebrews  were  paid  the  regular 
wage. 

When  a  year  and  four  months  had  elapsed,  notan  Egyptian 
was  to  be  seen  making  bricks  and  building ;  and  the  wage  was 
slopped  for  the  future,  but  the  Hebrews  were  kept  to  their  work. 

The  harshesr  and  most  cruel  men  were  appointed  to  be 
their  overseers,  and  if  one  of  the  Israelites  asked  for  his  wage, 
or  fainted  under  his  burden,  he  was  beaten  or  put  in  the  stocks. 

1  Yaschar.  pp.  124 1 -53.  The  history  of  Zepho  is  quite  a  romance,  too 
lon^  for  insertion  here. 


*5$ 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


When  Pithom  and  Rameses  were  walled,  the  Israelites 
were  employed  to  strengthen  with  forts  all  the  other  cities  of 
Egypt,  then  to  build  storehouses  and  pyramids,  to  dig  canals 
for  the  Nile,  and  to  rear  dykes  against  the  overflow.  They 
were  also  employed  to  dig  and  plough  the  fields,  to  garden 
and  prune  the  fruit-trees,  and  to  exercise  trades.  They  were 
engaged  from  early  dawn  till  late  at  night,  and  because  the 
way  from  their  homes  was  often  far,  they  were  forced  to  sleep 
in  the  open  air,  upon  the  bare  ground.1 

As  the  life  of  the  Israelites  became  embittered  to  them, 
they  called  the  king  Meror,  “the  embitterer,”  instead  of  Melol, 
“  the  grinder,”  though  that  was  appropriate  enough,  one  would 
have  supposed.3 

But  matters  grew  worse  ;  the  Edomites  and  Hittites  again 
threatened  Egypt,  and  Pharaoh  ordered  a  closer  guard  to  be 
kept,  and  heavier  tasks  to  be  laid  upon  the  Hebrews. 

Notwithstanding  all  attempts  to  crush  the  spirit  of  this  un¬ 
fortunate  people  and  to  diminish  their  numbers,  they  were  sus¬ 
tained  by  hope  in  God,  for  a  voice  was  heard  from  heaven, 
i  This  people  shall  increase  abundantly,  and  multiply.” 

Whilst  the  men  of  Israel  slept  exhausted  after  their  unspeak¬ 
able  oppression  of  mind  and  body,  the  faithful  women  labored  to 
relieve  and  strengthen  them.  They  hastened  to  the  springs  to 
oring  pure  water  to  their  husbands  to  drink,  and,  by  the  mercy 
of  the  All  Merciful,  it  fell  out  that  their  pitchers  were  found, 
each  time,  to  contain  half  water  and  half  fish. 

These  gentle  and  diligent  women  dressed  the  fish,  and  pre¬ 
pared  other  good  meats  for  their  husbands,  and  they  sought 
tnem  at  their  woik  with  the  food,  and  with  their  cheerful  words 
of  encouragement.  This  loving  attention  of  the  women  soothed 
the  hearts  of  the  men,  and  gave  them  fresh  energy. 

When  125  years  had  elapsed  since  Jacob  came  into  Egypt, 
the  fifty-fourth  year  after  Joseph's  death,  the  elders  and  coun¬ 
cillors  of  Egypt  presented  themselves  before  Pharaoh,  and  com¬ 
plained  to  him  that  the  people  increased  and  multiplied  and 
became  very  great  in  the  land,  so  that  they  covered  it  like  the 
bushes  in  the  wood  ;  and  two  of  the  king’s  councillors,  of  whom 
one  was  Job  of  Uz,  said  to  Pharaoh,  “It  was  well  that  heavy 
tasks  were  laid  upon  the  Hebrews,  but  that  doth  not  suffice ; 
it  is  needful  that  they  should  be  diminished  in  number  as  well 


1  Yaschar,  pp.  1248,  1249  ;  1253,  1254. 


*  Ibid.,  p.1255 


MOSES. 


as  enslaved.  Therefore  give  orders  to  the  nurses  to  kill  every 
male  child  that  is  born  to  the  Hebrews,  but  to  save  the  women 
children  alive.” 

This  council  pleased  the  king  well ;  and  what  Job  had  ad¬ 
vised  was  put  in  operation. 

Pharaoh  summoned  the  two  Hebrew  midwives  before  him  ; 
they  were  mother  and  daughter  ;  some  say  their  names  were 
Jochebed  and  Miriam,  but  others  Jochebed  and  Elizabeth. 
Now,  Miriam  was  only  five  years  old,  nevertheless  she  was  of 
the  greatest  assistance  to  her  mother  in  nursing  women.  Both 
showed  the  utmost  kindness  to  the  new-born  children,  washed 
and  brushed  them  up,  said  pretty  things  to  them,  and  strength¬ 
ened  the  mothers  with  cordials  and  tonic  draughts.  To  their 
care  the  Israelites  were  indebted  for  the  graceful  and  vigorous 
forms  of  their  children  ;  and  the  two  women  were  such  favor¬ 
ites  with  the  people,  that  they  called  the  one  Shiphrah  (the 
soother  or  beautifier)  and  the  other  Puah  (the  helper). 

When  they  appeared  before  the  king,  and  heard  what  he 
designed,  Miriam’s  young  face  flushed  scarlet,  and  she  said, 
in  anger,  “  Woe  to  the  man  !  God  will  punish  him  for  his 
evil  deed.” 

The  executioner  would  have  hurried  her  out,  and  killed  her 
for  her  audacity,  but  the  mother  implored  pardon,  saying,  “  O 
king  !  forgive  her  speech ;  she  is  only  a  little  foolish  child.” 

Pharaoh  consented,  and  assuming  a  gentler  tone,  explained 
that  the  female  children  were  to  be  saved  alive,  and  that  the 
male  children  were  to  be  quietly  put  to  death,  without  the 
knowledge  of  the  mothers.  And  he  threatened  them,  if  they 
did  not  obey  his  wishes,  that  he  would  cast  them  into  a  furnace 
of  fire.  Then  he  dismissed  them.  But  the  two  midwives  would 
not  fulfil  his  desire. 

And  when  Pharaoh  found  that  the  men-children  were  saved 
alive,  he  shut  up  the  two  midwives,  that  the  Hebrew  women 
might  be  without  their  succor.  But  this  availed  not.  And  God 
rewarded  the  midwives  ;  for  of  the  elder  Moses  was  born. 

Five  years  passed,  and  Pharaoh  dreamed  that,  as  he  sat  upon 
his  throne,  an  old  man  stood  before  him  holding  a  balance. 
And  the  old  man  put  the  princes,  and  nobles,  and  elders  of 
Egypt,  and  all  its  inhabitants  into  one  scale,  and  he  put  into 
the  other  a  sucking  child,  and  the  babe  outweighed  all  that  was 
in  the  first  scale.1 

1  Midrash,  fol.  51  ;  Yaschar,  p.  1157. 


*58 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


When  Pharaoh  awoke,  he  rehearsed  his  dream  in  the  ears 
of  his  wise  men  and  magicians  and  soothsayers,  and  asked  them 
the  interpretation  thereof. 

Then  answered  Balaam,  who,  with  his  sons  Jannes  and 
Jambres,  was  at  the  court,  and  said,  “  O  king,  live  forever  ! 
The  dream  thou  didst  see  has  this  signification.  A  child 
shall  be  born  among  the  Hebrews  who  shall  bring  them  with 
a  strong  hand  out  of  Egypt,  and  before  whom  all  thy  nations 
shall  be  as  naught.  A  great  danger  threatens  thee  and  all 
Egypt.” 

Then  said  Pharaoh  in  dismay,  “  YVhat  shall  we  do  ?  All 
that  we  have  devised  against  this  people  has  failed.” 

“  Let  the  king  suffer  me  to  give  my  advice,”  said  Jethro, 
one  of  his  councillors.  And  when  Pharaoh  consented,  he  said, 
“  May  the  king’s  days  be  multiplied  !  This  is  my  advice  ;  the 
people  that  thou  oppressest  is  a  great  people,  and  God  is  their 
shield.  All  who  resist  them  are  brought  to  destruction ;  all 
who  favor  them  prosper.  Therefore,  O  king,  do  thou  withdraw 
thy  hand,  which  is  heavy  upon  them  ;  lighten  their  tasks,  and 
extend  to  them  thy  favor.” 

But  this  advice  pleased  not  Pharaoh  nor  his  councillors ; 
and  his  anger  was  kindled  against  Jethro,  and  he  drove  him 
from  his  court  and  from  the  country.  Then  Jethro  went  with 
his  wife  and  daughter,  and  dwelt  in  the  land  of  Midian. 

Then  said  the  king,  “Job  of  Uz,  give  thy  opinion.” 

But  Job  opened  not  his  lips. 

Then  rose  Balaam,  son  of  Beor,  and  he  said,  “  O  my  king, 
all  thy  attempts  to  hurt  Israel  have  failed,  and  the  people 
increase  upon  you.  Think  not  to  try  fire  against  them,  for 
that  was  tried  against  Abraham  their  father,  and  he  was  saved 
unhurt  from  the  midst  of  the  flames.  Try  not  sword  against 
them,  for  the  knife  was  raised  against  Isaac  their  father,  and 
he  was  delivered  by  the  -angel  of  God.  Nor  will  hard  labor 
injure  them  as  thou  hast  proved.  Yet  there  remains  water, 
that  hath  not  yet  been  enlisted  against  them ;  prove  them  with 
water.  Therefore  my  advice  is — cast  all  their  new-born  sons 
into  the  river.”  1 

The  king  hesitated  not;  he  appointed  Egyptian  women  to 
be  nurses  to  the  Hebrews,  and  instructed  them  to  drown  all 
the  male  children  that  were  born  ;  and  he  threatened  with  death 

1  Midrash  Jalkut,  fol.  52  ;  Yaschar,  pp.  1257  -9. 


MOSES. 


259 


those  who  withstood  his  decree.  And  that  he -might  know 
what  women  were  expecting  to  be  delivered,  he  sent  little 
Egyptian  children  to  the  baths,  to  observe  the  Hebrew  women, 
a^d  report  on  their  appearance. 

But  God  looked  upon  the  mothers,  and  they  were  delivered 
in  sleep  under  the  shadow  of  fruit-trees,  and  angels  attended 
on  them,  washed  and  dressed  the  babes,  and  smeared  their 
little  hands  with  butter  and  honey,  that  they  might  lick  them, 
and,  delighting  in  the  flavor,  abstain  from  crying,  and  thus 
escape  discovery.  Then  the  mothers  on  waking  exclaimed 
“  O  most  Merciful  One,  into  Thy  hands  we  commit  our  chil¬ 
dren  !  ”  But  the  emissaries  of  Pharaoh  followed  the  traces  of 
the  women,  and  would  have  slain  the  infants,  had  not  the  earth 
gaped,  and  received  the  little  babes  into  a  hollow  place  within, 
where  they  were  fed  by  angel  hands  with  butter  and  honey. 

The  Egyptians  brought  up  oxen  and  ploughed  over  the 
spot,  in  hopes  of  destroying  thereby  the  vanished  infants  ;  but, 
when  their  backs  were  turned,  the  children  sprouted  from  the 
soil,  like  little  flowers,  and  walked  home  unperceived.  Some 
say  that  10,000  children  were  cast  into  the  Nile.  They  were 
not  deserted  by  the  Most  High.  The  river  rejected  them  upon 
its  banks,  and  the  rocks  melted  into  butter  and  honey  around 
them  and  thus  fed  them,1  and  oil  distilled  to  anoint  them. 

This  persecution  had  continued  for  three  years  and  four 
months,  when,  on  the  seventh  day  of  the  twelfth  month,  Adar, 
the  astrologers  and  seers  stood  before  the  king  and  said,  “  This 
day  a  child  is  born  who  will  free  the  people  of  Israel  I  This, 
and  one  thing  more,  have  we  learnt  from  the  stars,  Water  will 
be  the  cause  of  his  death  f  but  whether  he  be  an  Egyptian  or 
an  Hebrew  child,  that  we  know  not.” 

“Very  well,”  said  Pharaoh  ;  “then  in  future  all  male  chil¬ 
dren,  Egyptians  as  well  as  Hebrews,  shall  be  cast  indiscrim¬ 
inately  into  the  river.” 

And  so  was  it  done.3 

2.  THE  BIRTH  AND  CHILDHOOD  OF  MOSES. 

Kohath,  son  of  Levi,  had  a  son  named  Amram,  whose  life 

1  The  curious  passages,  Isaiah  vii.  15,  22,  may  allude  to  this  tradition. 

*  Moses’  life  was  shortened  because  he  brought  water  out  of  the  rock 
contrary  to  God’s  command  (Numb,  xxvii.  14),  striking  the  rock  instead  of 
speaking  to  it. 

*  Beer,  pp.  112-6. 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


260 

was  so  saintly,  that  death  could  not  have  touched  him,  had  not 
the  decree  gone  forth,  that  every  child  of  Adam  was.  to  die. 

He  married  Jochebed,  the  daughter  of  Levi,  his  aunt,  and 
by  her  he  had  a  daughter  Miriam  ;  and  after  four  years  she 
bore  him  a  son,  and  he  called  his  name  Aaron. 

Now  when  it  was  noised  abroad  that  Pharaoh  would  slay 
all  the  sons  of  the  Hebrews  that  were  born  to  them,  Amram 
thrust  away  his  wife,  and  many  others  did  the  same,  not  that 
they  hated  their  wives,  but  that  they  would  spare  them  the 
grief  of  seeing  their  children  put  to  death.1  After  three  years, 
the  spirit  of  prophecy  came  on  Miriam,  as  she  sat  in  the  house, 
and  she  cried,  “  My  parents  shall  have  another  son,  who  shall 
deliver  Israel  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Egyptians  !  ”  Then  she 
said  to  her  father,  “  What  hast  thou  done  ?  Thou  hast  sent 
thy  wife  away,  out  of  thine  house,  because  thou  couldest  not 
trust  the  Lord  God,  that  He  would  protect  the  child  that  might 
be  born  to  thee.” 

Amram,  reproved  by  these  words,  sought  his  banished  wife  ; 
the  angel  Gabriel  guided  him  on  his  way,  and  a  voice  from 
heaven  encouraged  him  to  proceed.  And  when  he  found 
Jochebed,  he  led  her  to  her  home  again.* 

One  hundred  and  thirty  years  old  was  Jochebed,  but  she 
was  as  fresh  and  beauteous  as  on  the  day  she  left  her  father's 
house.3  She  was  with  child,  and  Amram  feared  lest  it  should 
be  a  boy  and  be  slain  by  Pharaoh. 

Then  appeared  the  Eternal  One  to  him  in  a  dream,  and 
bade  him  be  of  good  cheer,  for  He  would  protect  the  child, 
and  make  him  great,  so  that  all  nations  should  hold  him  in 
honor. 

When  Amram  awoke,  he  told  his  dream  to  Jochebed,  and 
they  were  filled  with  fear  and  great  amazement. 

After  six  months  she  bore  a  son,  without  pain.  The  child 
entered  this  world  in  the  third  hour  of  the  morning,  of  the 
seventh  day  of  the  month  Adar,  in  the  year  2368  after  the 
Creation,  and  the  130th  year  of  the  sojourn  of  the  Israelites  in 
Egypt.  And  when  he  was  born,  the  house  was  filled  with 
light,  as  of  the  brightest  sunshine. 

1  Some  authorities  say  that  Jochebed,  when  thrust  away,  married  Eliph- 
azan,  the  son  of  Parnach  (Numb,  xxxiv.  25),  and  bare  him  two  sons,  Eldad 
and  Medad  (Numb.  xi.  15) ;  but  others,  with  more  probability,  assert  that 
she  married  Eliphazan  after  the  death  of  Amram.  (Yaschar,  p.  1259.) 

*  Yaschar,  p.  1260.  8  Targum  of  Palestine,  i  p.  446. 


MOSES. 


261 


The  tender  mother’s  anxiety  for  her  son  was  increased 
when  she  noted  his  beauty, — he  was  like  an  angel  of  God, — 
and  his  great  height  and  noble  appearance.  The  parents 
called  him  Tobias  ^God  is  good)  to  express  their  thankfulness, 
but  others  say  he  was  called  Jokutiel  (Hope  in  God).  Amram 
kissed  his  daughter,  Miriam,  on  the  brow,  and  said,  “Now  I 
know  that  thy  prophecy  is  come  true.”  1 

Jochebed  hid  the  child  three  months  in  her  chamber  where 
she  slept.  But  Pharaoh,  filled  with  anxiety,  lest  a  child  should 
have  escaped  him,  sent  Egyptian  women  with  their  nurslings  to 
the  houses  of  the  Hebrews.  Now  it  is  the  custom  of  children, 
when  one  cries,  another  cries  also.  Therefore  the  Egyptian 
women  pricked  their  babes,  when  they  went  into  a  house,  and 
if  the  child  were  concealed  therein,  it  cried  when  it  heard  the 
Egyptian  baby  scream.  Then  it  was  brought  out  and  de¬ 
spatched. 

Jochebed  knew  that  these  women  were  coming  to  her  house, 
and  that,  if  the  child  were  discovered,  her  husband  and  her¬ 
self  would  be  slain  by  the  executioner  of  Pharaoh. 

Moreover  they  feared  the  astrologers  and  soothsayers,  that 
they  would  read  in  the  heavens  that  a  male  child  was  con¬ 
cealed  there.  “  Better  can  we  deceive  them,”  said  Amram, 
“if  we  cast  the  child  into  the  water.” 

Jochebed  took  the  paper  flags  and  wove  a  basket,  and 
pitched  it  with  pitch  without,  and  clay  within,  that  the  smell 
of  the  pitch  might  not  offend  her  dear  little  one;  and  then  she 
placed  the  basket  amongst  the  rushes,  where  the  Red  Sea  at 
that  time  joined  the  River  Nile. 

Then  weeping  and  wailing,  she  went  away,  and  seeing 
Miriam  come  to  meet  her,  she  smote  her  on  the  head,  and 
said,  “Now,  daughter,  where  is  thy  prophesying?” 

Miriam  followed  the  little  ark,  as  it  floated  on  the  wash  of 
the  river,  and  swam  in  and  out  among  the  reeds;  for  Miriam 
was  wondering  whether  the  prophecy  would  come  true,  or 
whether  it  would  fail.  This  was  on  the  twenty-first  of  the 
month  Nisan,  on  the  day,  chosen  from  the  beginning,  on  which 
in  after  times  Moses  should  teach  his  people  the  Song  of 
Praise  for  their  delivery  at  the  Red  Sea.2 

Then  the  angels  surrounded  the  throne  of  God  and  cried, 
“  O  Lord  of  the  whole  earth,  shall  this  mortal  child  fore-or- 


1  Rabboth,  fol.  it8  a. 


*  Exod.  xv.  1. 


«6a 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


dained  to  chant,  at  the  head  of  Thy  chosen  people,  the  g"-?a! 
song  of  delivery  from  water,  perish  this  day  by  water?” 

Tne  Almighty  answered,  “Ye  know  well  that  I  behold  all 
things.  They  that  seek  their  salvation  in  their  own  craftiness 
and  evil  ways  shall  find  destruction,  but  they  who  trust  in  Me 
shall  never  be  confounded.  The  history  of  that  child  shall 
be  a  witness  to  My  almighty  power.” 

Melol,  king  of  Egypt,  had  then  only  one  daughter,  whom 
he  greatly  loved  ;  Bithia  (Thermutis  or  Therbutis)1  was  her 
name.  vShe  had  been  married  for  some  time  to  Chenephras, 
prince  of  a  territory  near  Memphis,  but  was  childless.  '  This 
troubled  her  greatly,  for  she  desired  a  son  who  might  succeed 
her  father  upon  the  throne  of  Egypt. 

At  this  time  God  had  sent  upon  Egypt  an  intolerable  heat, 
and  the  people  were  affected  with  grievous  boils.'  To  cure 
themselves,  they  bathed  in  the  Nile.  Bithia  also  suffered,  and 
bathed,  not  in  the  river,  but  in  baths  in  the  palace ;  but  on 
this  day  she  went  forth  by  the  Nile  bank,  though  otherwise  she 
never  left  her  father’s  palace.  On  reaching  the  bathing-place 
she  observed  the  ark  lodged  among  the  bulrushes,  and  sent 
one  of  her  maids  to  swim  out  and  bring  it  to  her  ;  but  the  oth- 
er  servants  said,  “  O  princess,  this  is  one  of  the  Hebrew  chil¬ 
dren,  who  are  cast  out  according  to  the  command  of  thy  royal 
father.  It  beseems  thee  not  to  oppose  his  commands  and 
frustrate  his  will.” 

Scarcely  had  the  maidens  uttered  these  words  than  they 
vanished  from  the  surface  of  the  earth.  The  angel  Gabriel 
had  sunk  them  all,  with  the  exception  of  the  one  who  swam 
for  the  ark,  into  the  bosom  of  the  earth. 

But  the  eagerness  of  the  princess  was  so  great,  that  she 
could  not  wait  till  the  damsel  brought  her  the  basket,  and  she 
stretched  forth  her  arm  towards  it,  and  her  arm  was  lengthen¬ 
ed  sixty  ells,  so  that  she  was  able  to  take  hold  of  the  ark  and 
draw  it  to  land,  and  lift  the  child  out  of  the  water. 

No  sooner  had  she  touched  the  babe,  than  she  was  healed 
of  the  boils  which  afflicted  her,  and  the  splendor  of  the  face 
of  the  child  was  like  that  of  the  sun.3  She  looked  at  it  with 
wonder,  and  admired  its  beauty.  But  her  father’s  stern  law 
made  her  fear,  and  she  thought  to  return  the  child  to  the  wa- 

1  The  Arabic  name  for  her  is  Asia  ;  Yaschar,  p.  1261. 

*  Targum  of  Palestine,  i.  p.  446  ;  Yaschar,  p.  1261. 

Midrash,  fob  51. 


MOSES. 


263 


ter,  when  he  began  to  cry,  for  the  angel  Gabriel  had  boxed  his 
ears  to  make  him  weep,  and  thus  excite  the  compassion  of  the 
princess.  Then  Miriam,  hid  away  among  the  rushes,  and  lit¬ 
tle  Aaron,  aged  three,  hearing  him  cry,  wept  also. 

The  heart  of  the  princess  was  stirred ;  and  compassion, 
like  that  of  a  mother  for  her  babe,  filled  her  heart.  She  felt 
for  the  infant  yearning  love  as  though  it  were  her  own.  “  Tru¬ 
ly,”  said  Bithia,  “  the  Hebrews  are  to  be  pitied,  for  it  is  no  easy 
matter  to  part  with  a  child,  and  to  deliver  it  over  to  death.” 

Then,  fearing  that  there  would  be  no  safety  for  the  babe, 
if  it  were  brought  into  the  palace,  she  called  to  an  Egyptian 
woman  who  was  walking  by  the  water,  and  bade  her  suckle 
the  child.  But  the  infant  would  not  take  the  breast  from  this 
woman,  nor  from  any  other  Egyptian  woman  that  she  sum¬ 
moned  ;  and  this  the  Almighty  wrought  that  the  child  might 
be  restored  to  its  own  mother  again. 

Then  Miriam,  the  sister,  mingled  with  those  who  came  up, 
and  said  to  Bithia,  with  sobs,  “  Noble  lady!  vain  are  all  thine 
attempts  to  give  the  child  the  breast  from  one  of  a  different 
race.  If  thou  wouldst  have  a  Hebrew  woman,  then  let  me 
fetch  one,  and  the  child  will  suck  at  once.”  1 

This  advice  pleased  Bithia,  and  she  bade  Miriam  seek  her 
out  a  Hebrew  mother. 

With  winged  steps  Miriam  hastened  home,  and  brought  her 
mother,  Jochebed,  to  the  princess.  Then  the  babe  readily 
took  nourishment  from  her,  and  ceased  crying. 

Astonished  at  this  wonder,  the  king’s  daughter  said,  but 
unawares,  the  truth,  for  she  spake  to  Jochebed,  “  Here  is  thy 
child  ;  take  and  nurse  the  child  for  me,  and  the  wage  shall  be 
two  pieces  of  silver  a  day.” 

Jochebed  did  what  she  was  bidden,  but  better  reward  than 
all  the  silver  in  Pharaoh’s  house  was  the  joy  of  having  her  son 
restored  to  his  mother’s  breast. 

The  self-same  day  the  soothsayers  and  star-gazers  said  to 
Pharaoh,  “  The  child  of  whom  we  speak  to  thee,  that  he  should 
free  Israel,  hath  met  his  fate  in  the  water.” 

Therefore  the  cruel  decree  ordering  the  destruction  of  all 
male  infants  was  withdrawn,  and  the  miraculous  deliverance  of 
Moses  became  by  this  means  the  salvation  of  the  whole  gener¬ 
ation.  In  allusion  to  this,  Moses  said  afterwards  to  the  peo¬ 
ple  when  he  would  restrain  them  (Numbers  xi.)  :  “Verily  ye 
1  Midrash,  fol.  51  ;  Yascliar,  p.  1262. 


264 


old  Testament  characters. 


number  six  hundred  thousand  men,  and  ye  would  all  have  per¬ 
ished  in  the  river  Nile,  but  I  was  delivered  from  the  water, 
and  therefore  ye  are  all  alive  as  at  this  day.” 

After  two  years  Jochebed  weaned  him,  and  brought  him  to 
the  king’s  daughter.  Bithia,  charmed  with  the  beauty  and  in¬ 
telligence  of  the  child,  took  him  into  the  palace,  and  named 
him  Moses  (he  who  is  drawn  out  of  the  water).  Lo  !  a  voice 
from  heaven  fell,  “  Daughter  of  Pharaoh !  because  thou  hast 
had  compassion  on  this  little  child  and  hast  called  him  thy  son, 
therefore  do  I  call  thee  My  daughter  (Bithia).  The  foundling 
that  thou  cherishest  shall  be  called  by  the  name  thou  gavest 
him — Moses ;  and  by  none  other  name  shall  he  be  known, 
wheresoever  the  fame  of  him  spreads  under  the  whole  heaven.” 

Now,  in  order  that  Moses  might  really  pass  for  the  child  of 
Bithia,  the  princess  had  feigned  herself  to  be  pregnant,  and 
then  to  be  confined  ;  and  now  Pharaoh  regarded  him  as  his 
true  grandchild. 

On  account  of  his  exceeding  beauty,  every  one  that  saw  him 
was  filled  with  admiration,  and  said,  “  Truly,  this  is  a  king’s 
son.”  And  when  he  was  taken  abroad,  the  people  forsook 
their  work,  and  deserted  their  shops,  that  they  might  see 
him.  One  day,  when  Moses  was  three  years  old,  Bithia  led 
him  by  the  hand  into  the  presence  of  Pharaoh,  and  the  queen 
sat  by  the  king,  and  all  the  princes  of  the  realm  stood  about 
him.  Then  Bithia  presented  the  child  to  the  king,  and  said, 
“  Oh,  sire,  this  child  of  noble  mien  is  not  really  my  son ;  he 
was  given  to  me  in  wondrous  fashion  by  the  divine  river  Nile  ; 
therefore  have  I  brought  him  up  as  my  own  son,  and  destined 
him  to  succeed  thee  on  thy  throne,  since  no  child  of  my  body 
has  been  granted  to  me.” 

With  these  words  Bithia  laid  the  boy  in  the  king’s  arms, 
and  he  pressed  him  to  his  heart,  and  kissed  him.  Then,  to 
gratify  his  daughter,  he  took  from  his  head  the  crown  royal, 
and  placed  it  upon  the  temples  of  Moses.  But  the  child  ea¬ 
gerly  caught  at  the  crown,  and  threw  it  on  the  ground  and 
then  alighting  from  Pharaoh’s  knee,  he  in  childish  fashion 
danced  round  it,  and  finally  trampled  it  under  his  feet.1 

The  king  and  his  nobles  were  dismayed.  They  thought 
that  this  action  augured  evil  to  the  king  through  the  child  that 
was  before  them.  Then  Balaam,  the  son  of  Beor,  lifted  up 

1  Midrash,  fol.  52;  Yaschar,  p.  1263. 


MOSES. 


265 


his  voice  and  said,  “My  lord  and  king  !  dost  thou  not  re¬ 
member  the  interpretation  of  thy  dream,  as  thy  servant  in¬ 
terpreted  it  to  thee  ?  This  child  is  of  Hebrew  extraction,  and 
is  wiser  and  more  cunning  than  befits  his  age.  When  he  is  old 
he  will  take  thy  crown  from  off  thy  head,  and  will  tread  the 
power  of  Egypt  under  his  feet.  Thus  have  his  ancestors  ever 
done.  Abraham  defied  Nimrod,  and  rent  from  him  Canaan,  a 
portion  of  his  kingdom.  Isaac  prevailed  over  the  king  of  the 
Philistines.  Jacob  took  from  his  brother  his  birthright,  and 
blessing,  and  smote  the  Hivites  and  their  king  Hamor. 
Joseph,  the  slave,  became  chief  in  his  realm,  and  gave  the  best 
of  this  land  to  his  father  and  his  brethren.  And  now  this  child 
will  take  from  thee  the  kingdom,  and  will  enslave  or  destroy 
thy  people.  There  is  no  expedient  for  thee  but  to  slay  him, 
that  Egypt  become  not  his  prey.” 

But  Pharaoh  said,  “  We  will  take  other  counsel,  Balaam, 
before  we  decide  what  shall  be  done  with  this  child.” 

Then  some  advised  that  he  should  be  burnt  with  fire,  and 
others  that  he  should  be  slain  with  the  sword.  But  the  angel 
Gabriel,  in  the  form  of  an  old  man,  mingled  with  the  council¬ 
lors,  and  said,  “  Let  not  innocent  blood  be  shed.  The  child 
is  too  young  to  know  what  he  is  doing.  Prove  whether  he  has 
any  understanding  and  design,  before  you  sentence  him.  O 
king  !  let  a  bowl  of  live  coals  and  a  bowl  of  precious  stones  be 
brought  to  the  little  one.  If  he  takes  the  stones,  then  he  has 
understanding,  and  discerns  between  good  and  evil ;  but  if  he 
thrusts  his  hands  towards  the  burning  coals,  then  he  is  inno¬ 
cent  of  purpose  and  devoid  of  reason.”  1 

This  advice  pleased  the  king,  and  he  gave  orders  that  it 
should  be  as  the  angel  had  recommended. 

Now  when  the  basins  were  brought  in  and  offered  to  Moses, 
he  thrust  out  his  hand  towards  the  jewels.  But  Gabriel,  who 
had  made  himself  invisible,  caught  his  hand  and  directed  it  to¬ 
wards  the  red-hot  coals  ;  and  Moses  burnt  his  fingers,  and  he 
put  them  into  his  mouth,  and  burnt  his  lips  and  tongue ;  and 
therefore  it  is  that  Moses  said,  in  after  days,  “  I  am  slow  of 
lips  and  slow  of  tongue.”  2 

Pharaoh  and  his  council  were  now  convinced  of  the  sim- 

A 

1  According  to  another  version,  it  was  Jethro  who  advised  that  the  child 
should  be  proved  with  the  basins  of  rubies  and  coals  (Rabboth,  fol.  118  b. 
Yaschar,  pp.  1263,  1264). 

2  Exod.  iv.  10. 


266 


OLD  TES  TA  ME  NT  CHA  RA  C  TERR. 


plicity  of  Moses,  and  no  harm  was  done  him.  Then  Bithia 
removed  him,  and  brought  him  up  in  her  own  part  of  the 
palace. 

God  was  with  him,  and  he  increased  in  stature  and  beauty, 
and  Pharaoh’s  heart  was  softened  towards  him.  He  went 
arrayed  in  purple  through  the  streets,  as  the  son  of  Bithia, 
and  a  chaplet  of  diamonds  surrounded  his  brows,  and  he 
consorted  only  with  princes.  When  he  was  five  years  old,  he 
was  in  size  and  knowledge  as  advanced  as  a  boy  of  twelve. 

Masters  were  brought  for  him  from  all  quarters,  and  he 
was  instructed  in  all  the  wisdom  and  learning  of  the  Egyp¬ 
tians  ;  and  the  people  looked  upon  him  with  hope  as  their 
future  sovereign.1 

3.  THE  YOUTH  AND  MARRIAGE  OF  MOSES. 

Moses,  as  he  grew  older,  distinguished  himself  from  all 
other  young  men  of  Egypt  by  the  conquest  which  he  acquired 
over  himself  and  his  youthful  passions  and  impetuous  will. 
Although  the  life  of  a  court  offered  him  every  kind  of  gratifi¬ 
cation,  yet  he  did  not  allow  himself  to  be  attracted  by  its 
pleasures,  or  to  regard  as  permanent  what  he  knew  to  be 
fleeting.  Thus  it  fell  out,  that  all  his  friends  and  acquaint¬ 
ances  wondered  at  him,  and  doubted  whether  he  were  not  a 
god  appeared  on  earth.  And,  in  truth,  Moses  did  not  live 
and  act  as  did  others.  What  he  thought,  that  he  said,  and 
what  he  promised,  that  he  fulfilled. 

Moses  had  reached  the  summit  of  earthly  greatness  ;  ac¬ 
knowledged  as  grandson  to  Pharaoh,  and  heir  to  the  crown. 
But  he  trusted  not  in  the  future  which  was  thus  offered  to  him, 
for  he  knew  from  Jochebed,  whom  he  frequently  visited,  what 
was  his  true  people,  and  who  were  his  real  parents.  And  the 
bond  which  attached  him  to  his  own  house  and  people  wTas 
in  his  heart,  and  could  not  be  broken. 

Moses  went  daily  to  Goshen  to  see  his  relations  ;  and  he 
observed  how  the  Hebrews  were  oppressed,  and  groaned  under 
their  burdens.  And  he  asked  wherefore  the  yoke  was  pressed 
so  heavily  on  the  neck  of  these  slaves.  He  was  told  of  the  ad¬ 
vice  of  Balaam  against  the  people,  and  of  the  way  in  which 

1  Beer.  pp.  26-42.  Abulfaraj  says  that  Jannes  and  Jambres  were  the 
tutors  of  Moses  in  his  youth  (Hist.  Dynast.,  p.  17). 


MOSES. 


267 

Pharaoh  had  sought  the  destruction  of  himself  in  his  infancy. 
This  information  filled  Moses  with  indignation,  and  alienated 
his  affections  from  Pharoah,  and  filled  him  with  animosity  to¬ 
wards  Balaam.1  But,  as  he  was  not  in  a  position  to  rescue  his 
brethren,  or  to  punish  Balaam,  he  cried,  “  Alas !  I  had  rather 
die  than  continue  to  behold  the  affliction  of  my  brethren.” 
Then  he  took  the  necklace  from  off  him,  which  indicated  his 
princely  position,  and  sought  to  ease  the  burden  of  the  Israel¬ 
ites.  He  took  the  excessive  loads  from  the  women  and  old 
men,  and  laid  them  on  the  young  and  strong ;  and  thus  he 
seemed  to  be  fulfilling  Pharaoh’s  intentions  in  getting  the  work 
of  building  sooner  executed,  whereas,  by  making  each  labor  ac¬ 
cording  to  his  strength,  their  sufferings  were  lightened.  And 
he  said  to  the  Hebrews,  “  Be  of  good  cheer,  relief  is  not  so  far 
off  as  you  suppose — calm  follows  storm,  blue  sky  succeeds  black 
clouds,  sunshine  comes  after  rain.  The  whole  world  is  full  of 
change,  and  all  is  for  an  object.” 

Nevertheless  Moses  himself  desponded  ;  he  looked  with 
hatred  upon  Balaam,  and  lost  all  pleasure  in  the  society  of  the 
Egyptians.  Balaam  seeing  that  the  young  man  was  against 
him,  and  dreading  his  power,  escaped  with  his  sons  Jannes  and 
Jambres  to  the  court  of  Ethiopia. 

The  young  Moses,  however,  grew  in  favor  with  the  king, 
who  laid  upon  him  the  great  office  of  introducing  illustrious 
foreigners  to  the  royal  presence. 

But  Moses  kept  ever  before  his  eyes  the  aim  of  his  life,  to 
relieve  his  people  from  their  intolerable  burdens.  One  day  he 
presented  himself  before  the  king  and  said,  “  Sire !  I  have  a 
petition  to  make  of  thee.” 

Pharaoh  answered,  “  Say  on,  my  son.” 

Then  said  Moses,  “  O  king  !  every  laborer  is  given  one  day 
in  seven  for  rest,  otherwise  his  work  becomes  languid  and  un¬ 
profitable.  But  the  children  of  Israel  are  given  no  day  of  rest, 
but  they  work  from  the  first  day  of  the  week  to  the  last  day, 
without  cessation  ;  therefore  is  their  work  inferior,  and  it  is  not 
executed  with  that  heartiness  which  might  be  found,  were  they 
given  one  day  in  which  to  recruit  their  strength.” 

Pharaoh  said,  “  Which  day  shall  be  given  to  them  ?  ” 

Moses  said,  <k  Suffer  them  to  rest  on  the  seventh  day.” 

The  king  consented,  and  the  people  were  given  the  Sab- 


1  Yaschar,  p.  1265. 


268 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


bath,  on  which  they  ceased  from  their  labors ;  therefore  they 
rejoiced  greatly,  and  for  a  thousand  years  the  last  day  of  the 
week  was  called  “  The  gift  of  Moses.”  1 

As  the  command  to  destroy  all  the  male  children  had  been 
withdrawn  the  day  that  Moses  was  cast  into  the  Nile,  the 
people  had  multiplied  greatly,  and  again  the  fears  of  the  Egyp 
tians  were  aroused.  Therefore  the  king  published  a  new  de¬ 
cree,  with  the  object  of  impeding  the  increase  of  the  bonds¬ 
men. 

He  required  the  Egyptian  task-masters  to  impose  a  tale  of 
bricks  on  every  man,  and  if  at  evening  the  tale  of  bricks  was 
not  made  up,  then,  in  place  of  the  deficient  bricks,  even  though 
only  one  brick  was  short,  they  were  to  take  the  children  of 
those  who  had  not  made  up  their  tale,  and  to  build  them  into 
the  wall  in  place  of  bricks.'2  Thus  upon  one  misery  another 
was  piled. 

In  order  that  this  decree  might  be  executed  with  greater 
certainty,  ten  laborers  were  placed  under  one  Hebrew  overseer, 
and  'one  Egyptian  task-master  controlled  the  ten  overseers. 
The  dutv  of  the  Hebrew  overseers  was  to  wake  the  ten  men 

j 

they  were  set  over,  every  morning  before  dawn,  and  bring  them 
to  their  work.  If  the  Egyptian  task-masters  observed  that 
one  of  the  laborers  was  not  at  his  post,  he  went  to  the  over¬ 
seer,  and  bade  him  produce  the  man  immediately. 

Now  one  of  these  overseers  had  a  wife  of  the  tribe  of  Dan, 
whose  name  was  Salome,  daughter  of  Dibri.  She  was  beauti- 
(ul  and  faultless  in  her  body.  The  Egyptian  task-master  had 
observed  her  frequently,  and  he  loved  her.  Then,  one  day,  he 
vent  early  to  the  house  of  her  husband,  and  bade  him  arise, 
md  go  and  call  the  ten  laborers.  So  the  overseer  rose,  noth- 
ng  doubting,  and  went  forth,  and  then  the  Egyptian  entered 
md  concealed  himself  in  the  house.  But  the  overseer  return- 
ng,  found  him,  and  drew  him  forth,  and  asked  him  with  what 
ntent  he  had  hidden  himself  there  ;  and  Moses  drew  nigh. 
Now  Moses  was  known  to  the  Hebrews  as  merciful,  and  ready 
to  judge  righteously  their  causes  ;  so  the  man  ran  to  Moses, 
and  told  him  that  he  had  found  the  Egyptian  task-master  con¬ 
cealed  in  his  house. 

And  Moses  knew  for  what  intent  the  man  had  done  thus, 
and  his  anger  was  kindled,  and  he  raised  a  spade  to  smite  the 
man  on  the  head  and  kill  him. 

1  Yaschar,  p.  1265. 


*  Ibid,  p.  1263. 


MOSES. 


269 


But  whilst  the  spade  was  yet  in  his  hand,  before  it  fell, 
Moses  said  within  himself,  “  I  am  about  to  take  a  man’s  life  ; 
how  know  I  that  he  will  not  repent  ?  How  know  I  that  if  I 
suffer  him  to  live,  he  may  beget  children  who  will  do  right¬ 
eously  and  serve  the  Lord  ?  Is  it  well  that  I  should  slay  this 
man  ?  ” 

Then  Moses’  eyes  were  opened,  and  he  saw  the  throne  oi 
God,  and  the  angels  that  surrounded  it,  and  God  said  to  him, 

“  It  is  well  that  thou  shouldst  slay  this  Egyptian,  and  there¬ 
fore  have  I  called  thee  hither.  Know  that  he  would  never 
repent,  nor  would  his  children  do  other  than  work  evil,  wert 
thou  to  give  him  his  life.” 

So  Moses  called  on  the  name  of  the  Most  High  and  smote ; 
but  before  the  spade  touched  the  man,  as  the  sound  of  the 
name  of  God  reached  his  ears,  he  fell  and  died.1 

Then  Moses  looked  on  the  Hebrews  who  had  crowded 
round,  and  he  said  to  them,  “  God  has  declared  that  ye  shall 
be  as  the  sand  of  the  sea-shore.  Now  the  sand  falls  and  it  is 
noiseless,  and  the  foot  of  man  presses  it,  and  it  sounds  not. 
Therefore  understand  that  ye  are  to  be  silent  as  is  the  sand 
of  the  sea-shore,  and  tell  not  of  what  I  have  this  day  done.” 

Now  when  the  man  of  the  Hebrews  returned  home,  he 
drove  out  his  wife  Salome,  because  he  had  found  the  Egyptian 
concealed  in  his  house,  and  he  gave  her  a  writing  of  divorce¬ 
ment  and  sent  her  away.  Then  the  Hebrews  talked  among 
themselves  at  their  work,  and  some  said  he  had  done  well,  and 
others  that  he  had  done  ill.  There  were  at  their  task  two 
young  men,  brothers,  Dathan  and  Abiram,  the  sons  of  Eliab, 
of  the  tribe  of  Reuben,  and  they  strove  together  on  this  sub¬ 
ject,  and  Dathan  in  anger  lilted  his  hand,  and  would  have 
smitten  Abiram.  Then  Moses  came  up  and  stayed  him,  and 
cried,  “What  wickedness  art  thou  doing,  striking  thy  com¬ 
rade  ?  It  beseems  you  not  to  lay  hands  on  each  other.” 

Boldly  did  Dathan  answer :  “  Who  made  thee,  beardless 
youth,  a  lord  and  ruler  over  us  ?  We  know  well  that  thou  art 
not  the  son  of  the  king’s  daughter,  but  of  Jochebed.  Wili 
thou  slay  me  as  thou  didst  the  Egyptian  yesterday  1  ” 

“  Alas  1  ”  said  Moses,  “  now  I  see  that  the  evil  words,  and 
evil  acts,  and  evil  thoughts  of  this  people  will  fight  against 

1  Parascha  of  R.  Solomon  Jaschi,  on  Exod.  ii.  12  ;  also  Targums  of 
Palestine  and  Jerusalem,  i.  p.  447  ;  Yaschar,  pp.  1265,  1266. 


*7o 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


them,  and  frustrate  the  loving-kindness  of  the  Lord  towards 
them.” 

Then  Dathan  and  Abiram  went  before  Pharaoh,  and  told 
him  that  Moses  had  slain  an  Egyptian  task-master ;  and 
Pharaoh’s  anger  was  kindled  against  Moses,  and  he  cried, 
“  Enough  of  evil  hath  been  prophesied  against  thee,  and  I 
have  not  heeded  it,  and  now  thou  liftest  thy  hand  against  my 
servants !  ” 

For  he  had,  for  long,  been  slowly  turning  against  Moses, 
when  he  saw  that  he  walked  not  in  the  ways  of  the  Egyptians, 
and  that  he  loved  the  king’s  enemies,  and  hated  the  king’s 
friends.  Then  he  consulted  his  soothsayers  and  his  coun¬ 
cillors,  and  they  gave  him  advice  that  he  should  put  Moses  to 
death  with  the  sword.  Therefore  the  young  man,  Moses,  was 
brought  forth,  and  he  ascended  the  scaffold,  and  the  execu¬ 
tioner  stood  over  him  with  his  sword,  the  like  of  which  was 
not  in  the  whole  world.  And  when  the  king  gave  the  word, 
the  headsman  smote.  But  the  Lord  turned  the  neck  of  Moses 
into  marble,  and  the  sword  bit  not  into  it. 

Instantly,  before  the  second  blow  was  dealt,  the  angel  Mi¬ 
chael  took  from  the  executioner  his  sword  and  his  outward 
semblance,  and  gave  to  the  headsman  the  semblance  of  Moses, 
and  he  smote  at  the  executioner,  and  took  his  head  from  off 
his  shoulders.  But  Moses  fled  away,  and  none  observed  him. 
And  he  went  to  the  king  of  Ethopia.1 

Now  the  king  of  Ethiopia,  Kikannos  (Candacus)  by  name, 
was  warring  against  his  enemies  ;  and  when  he  left  his  capital 
city,  Mero/at  the  head  of  a  mighty  army,  he  left  Balaam  and 
his  two  sons  regents  during  his  absence. 

Whilst  the  king  was  engaged  in  war,  Balaam  and  his  sons 
conspired  against  the  king,  and  they  bewitched  the  people  with 
their  enchantments,  and  led  them  from  their  allegiance,  and 
persuaded  them  to  submit  to  Balaam  as  their  king.  And 
Balaam  strengthened  the  city  on  all  sides.  Sheba,  or  Mero, 
was  almost  impregnable,  as  it  was  surrounded  by  the  Nile  and 
the  Astopus.  On  two  sides  Balaam  built  walls,  and  on  the 
third  side,  between  the  Nile  and  the  city,  he  dug  countless 
canals,  into  which  he  let  the  water  run.  And  on  the  fourth 
side  he  assembled  innumerable  serpents.  Thus  he  made  the 
city  wholly  impregnable. 

When  King  Kikannos  returned  from  the  war,  he  saw  that 

1  l’irke,  R.  Eliezer,  c.  40;  Rabboth,  fol.  119  a  ;  Yaschar,  p.  1206. 


MOSES 


271 


his  capital  was  fortified,  and  he  wondered  ;  but  when  he  was 
refused  admission,  he  knew  that  there  was  treason 

One  day  he  endeavored  to  surmount  the  walls,  but  was  re¬ 
pulsed  with  great  slaughter  ;  and  the  next  day  he  threw  thirty 
pontoons  across  the  river,  but  when  his  soldiers  reached  the 
other  side,  they  were  engulfed  in  the  canals,  of  which  the 
water  was  impelled  with  foaming  fury  by  great  mill-wheels.  On 
the  third  day  he  assaulted  the  town  on  the  fourth  side,  but  his 
men  were  bitten  by  the  serpent!  and  died.  Then  King  Ki- 
kannos  saw  that  the  only  hope  of  reducing  the  city  was  by 
famine  ;  so  he  invested  it,  that  no  provisions  might  be  brought 
into  it. 

Whilst  he  sat  down  before  the  capital,  Moses  took  refuge 
in  his  camp,  and  was  treated  by  him  with  great  honor  and 
distinction. 

As  the  siege  protracted  itself  through  nine  years,  Kikannos 
fell  ill  and  died. 

Then  the  chief  captains  of  his  army  assembled,  and  deter¬ 
mined  to  elect  a  king,  who  might  carry  on  the  siege  with  ener¬ 
gy,  and  reduce  the  city  with  speed,  for  they  were  weary  of  the 
long  investment.  So  they  elected  Moses  to  be  their  king,  and 
they  threw  off  their  garments  and  folded  them  and  made  there¬ 
of  a  throne,  and  set  Moses  thereon,  and  blew  their  trumpets, 
and  cried  “  God  save  King  Moses  !  ”  1 

And  they  gave  him  the  widow  of  Kikannos  to  wife,  and 
costly  gifts  of  gold  and  silver  and  precious  stones  were  brought 
to  him,  but  all  these  he  laid  aside  in  the  treasurv.  This  took 
place  157  years  after  Jacob  and  his  sons  came  down  into 
Egypt,  when  Moses  was  aged  twenty-seven  years. 

On  the  seventh  day  after  his  coronation  came  the  captains 
and  officers  before  him,  and  besought  of  him  counsel,  how  the 
city  might  be  taken.  Then  said  Moses,  “  Nine  years  have  ye 
invested  it,  and  it  is  not  yet  in  your  power.  Follow  my  advice, 
and  in  nine  days  it  shall  be  yours.” 

They  said,  “  Speak,  and  we  will  obey.” 

Then  Moses  gave  this  advice,  “  Make  it  known  in  the  camp 
that  all  the  soldiers  go  into  the  woods,  and  bring  me  storks’ 
nests  as  many  as  they  can  find.” 

So  they  obeyed,  and  young  storks  innumerable  were  brought 
to  him.  Then  he  said,  “Keep  them  fasting  till  I  give  you 
word,  and  he  who  gives  to  a  stork  food,  though  it  were  but  a 

1  This  illustrates  the  passage  2  Kings  ix.  13. 


272 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


crumb  of  bread,  or  a  grain  of  corn,  lie  shall  be  slain,  and  all 
that  he  hath  shall  become  the  king’s  property,  and  his  house 
shall  be  made  a  dung-heap.” 

So  the  storks  were  kept  fasting.  And  on  the  thiid  day  the 
king  said,  “  Let  the  birds  go.” 

Then  the  storks  flew  into  the  air,  and  they  spied  the  serpents 
on  the  fourth  side  of  the  city,  and  they  fell  upon  them,  and 
the  serpents  fled,  and  they  were  killed  and  eaten  by  the  storks 
or  ever  they  reached  their  ho&s,  and  not  a  serpent  remained. 
Then  said  Moses,  “  March  into  the  city  and  take  it.” 

And  the  army  entered  the  city,  and  not  one  man  fell  of  the 
king’s  army,  but  they  slew  all  that  opposed  them. 

Thus  Moses  had  brought  the  Ethiopian  army  into  posses¬ 
sion  of  the  capital.  The  grateful  people  placed  the  crown 
upon  his  head,  and  the  queen  of  Kikannos  gave  him  her  hand 
with  readiness.  But  Balaam  and  his  sons  escaped,  riding  upon 
a  cloud. 

Moses  reigned  in  wisdom  and  righteousness  for  forty  years, 
and  the  land  prospered  under  his  government,  and  all  loved 
and  honored  him.  Nevertheless,  some  thought  that  the  son 
of  their  late  king  ought  to  ascend  the  throne  of  his  ancestors ; 
— he  was  an  infant  when  Moses  was  crowned,  but  now  that  he 
was  a  man,  a  party  x)f  the  nobles  desired  to  proclaim  his  right. 

They  prevailed  upon  the  queen  to  speak  ;  and  when  all  the 
princes  and  great  men  of  the  kingdom  were  assembled,  she 
declared  the  matter  before  all.  “  Men  of  Ethiopia,”  said  she, 
“  it  is  known  to  you  that  for  forty  years  my  husband  has  reigned 
in  Sheba.  Well  do  you  know  that  he  has  ruled  in  equity,  and 
administered  righteous  judgment.  But  know  also,  that  his 
God  is  not  our  God,  and  that  his  faith  is  not  our  faith.  My 
son,  Mena-Cham  (Minakros)  is  of  fltting  age  to  succeed  his 
father ;  therefore  it  is  my  opinion  that  Moses  should  surrender 
to  him  the  throne.” 

An  assembly  of  the  people  was  called,  and  as  this  advice 
of  the  queen  pleased  them,  they  besought  Moses  to  resign  the 
crown  to  the  rightful  heir.  He  consented,  without  hesitation, 
and,  laden  with  gifts  and  good  wishes,  he  left  the  country  and 
went  into  Miiian.1 

Moses  was  sixty-seven  years  old  when  he  entered  Midian. 
Reuel  Dr  Jethro,2  who  had  been  a  councillor  of  Pharaoh,  had, 

1  Midrash,  fol.  52  ;  Yaschar,  pp.  1265-1274. 

*  These  were  two  of  his  seven  names. 


\ 


MOSES 


273 


as  has  been  already  related,  taken  up  his  residence  in  Midian, 
where  the  people  had  raised  him  to  be  High  Priest  and  Prince 
over  the  whole  tribe.  But  Jethro  after  a  while  withdrew  from 
the  priesthood,  for  he  believed  in  the  one  True  God,  and  ab¬ 
horred  the  idols  which  the  Midianites  worshipped.  And  when 
the  people  found  that  Jethro  despised  their  gods,  and  that  he 
preached  against  their  idolatry,  they  placed  him  under  the  ban, 
that  none  might  give  him  meat  ox  drink,  or  serve  him. 

This  troubled  Jethro  greatly,  for  all  his  shepherds  forsook 
him,  as  he  was  under  the  ban.  Therefore  it  was,  that  his  seven 
daughters  were  constrained  to  lead  and  water  the  flocks.1 

Moses  arrived  near  a  well  and  sat  down  to  rest.  Then  he 
saw  the  seven  daughters  of  Jethro  approach. 

The  maidens  had  gone  early  to  the  well,  for  they  feared  lest 
the  shepherds,  taking  advantage  of  their  being  placed  under 
ban,  should  molest  them,  and  refuse  to  give  their  sheep  water. 
They  let  down  their  pitchers  in  turn,  and  with  much  trouble 
filled  the  trough.  Then  the  shepherds  came  up  and  drove 
them  away,  and  led  their  sheep  to  the  trough  the  maidens  had 
filled,  and  in  rude  jest  they  would  have  thrown  the  damsels 
mto  the  water,  but  Moses  stood  up  and  delivered  them,  and 
rebuked  the  shepherds,  and  they  were  ashamed. 

Then  Moses  let  down  his  pitcher,  and  the  water  leaped  up 
and  overflowed,  and  he  filled  the  trough  and  gave  the  flocks  of 
the  seven  maidens  to  drink,  and  then  he  watered  also  the 
flocks  of  the  shepherds,  lest  there  should  be  evil  blood  between 
them. 

Now  when  the  maidens  came  home,  they  related  to  their 
father  all  that  had  taken  place  ;  and  he  said,  “  Where  is  the 
man  that  hath  shown  kindness  to  you? — bring  him  to  me.” 

So  Zipporah  ran — she  ran  like  a  bird — and  came  to  the 
well,  and  bade  Moses  enter  under  their  roof  and  eat  of  their 
table. 

When  Moses  come  to  Raguel  (Jethro),  the  old  man  asked 
him  whence  he  came,  and  Moses  told  him  all  the  truth. 

Then  thought  Jethro,  “I  am  fallen  under  the  displeasure 
of  Midian,  and  this  man  has  been  driven  out  of  Egypt  and  out 

1  It  may  be  noticed  in  this  as  in  several  other  instances,  such  xs  those 
of  Rebekah  and  Rachel,  the  Rabbis  have  invented  stories  to  explain  the 
circumstance  of  the  damsels  watering  the  flock,  which  they  supposed  dera 
gated  from  their  dignity.  This  indicates  the  late  date  of  these  traditions, 

when  the  old  pastoral  simplicity  was  lost. 

12* 


*74 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


of  Ethiopia ;  he  must  be  a  dangerous  man  ;  he  will  embroil 
me  with  the  men  of  this  land,  and,  if  the  king  of  Ethiopia  or 
Pharaoh  of  Egypt  hears  that  I  have  harbored  him  it  will  go  ill 
with  me.” 

Therefore  Raguel  took  Moses  and  bound  him  in  chains, 
and  threw  him  into  a  dungeon,  where  he  was  given  only  scanty 
food  ;  and  soon  Jethro,  whose  thoughts  were  turned  to  recon¬ 
ciliation  with  the  Midianites,  forgot  him,  and  sent  him  no  food. 
But  Zipporah  loved  him,  and  was  grateful  to  him  for  the  kind¬ 
ness  he  had  showed  her,  in  saving  her  from  the  hands  of 
the  shepherds  who.  would  have  dipped  her  in  the  water-trough, 
and  every  day  she  took  him  food  and  drink,  and  in  return 
was  instructed  by  the  prisoner  in  the  law  of  the  Most  High.1 

Thus  passed  seven,  or,  as  others  say,  ten  years  \  and  all 
the  while  the  gentle  and  loving  Zipporah  ministered  to  his  ne¬ 
cessities. 

The  Midianites  were  reconciled  again  with  Jethro,  and  re¬ 
stored  him  to  his  former  position  ;  and  his  scruples  about  the 
worship  of  idols  abated,  when  he  found  that  opposition  to  the 
established  religion  interfered  with  his  temporal  interests. 

Then,  when  all  was  again  prosperous,  many  great  men  and 
princes  came  to  ask  the  hand  of  Zipporah  his  daughter,  who 
was  beautiful  as  the  morning  star,  and  as  the  dove  in  the  hole 
of  the  rock,  and  as  the  narcissus  by  the  water’s  side.  But 
Zipporah  loved  Moses  alone ;  and  Jethro,  unwilling  to  offend 
those  who  solicited  her  by  refusing  them,  as  he  could  give  his 
daughter  to  one  only,  took  his  staff,  whereon  was  written  the 
name  of  God,  the  staff  which  was  cut  from  the  Tree  of  Life, 
and  which  had  belonged  to  Joseph,  but  which  he  had  taken 
with  him  from  the  palace  of  Pharaoh,  and  he  planted  it  in  his 
garden,  and  said,  u  He  who  can  pluck  up  this  staff,  he  shall 
take  my  daughter  Zipporah.” 

Then  the  strong  chiefs  of  Edom  and  of  Midian  came  and 
tried,  but  they  could  not  move  the  staff. 

One  day  Zipporah  went  before  her  father,  and  reminded 
him  of  the  man  whom  he  had  cast  into  a  dungeon  so  many 
years  before.  Jethro  was  amazed,  and  he  said,  “  I  had  forgotten 
him  these  seven  years ;  he  must  be  dead  ;  he  has  had  no  food.” 

But  Zipporah  said  meekly,  “  With  God  all  things  are  pos¬ 
sible.” 

*  Pirke  R.  Eliezer,  c.  40;  Yaschar,  p.  1274 
2  The  Targ-um  of  Palestine,  “ten  years  i.  p.  448. 


MOSES. 


375 


So  Jethro  went  to  the  prison  door  and  opened  it,  and  Moses 
was  alive.  Then  he  brought  him  forth,  and  cut  his  hair,  and 
pared  his  nails,  and  gave  him  a  change  of  raiment,  and  set  him 
in  his  garden,  and  placed  meat  before  him. 

Now  Moses,  being  once  more  in  the  fresh  air,  and  under 
the  blue  sky,  and  with  the  light  of  heaven  shining  upon  him, 
prayed  and  gave  thanks  to  God  ;  and  seeing  the  staff,  where¬ 
upon  was  written  the  name  of  the  Most  High,  he  went  to  t 
and  took  it  away,  and  it  followed  his  hand. 

When  Jethro  returned  into  the  garden,  lo  !  Moses  had  the 
staff  of  the  Tree  of  Life  in  his  hand  ;  then  Jethro  cried  out, 

“  This  is  a  man  called  of  God  to  be  a  prince  and  a  great  man 
among  the  Hebrews,  and  to  be  famous  throughout  the  world.” 
And  he  gave  him  Zipporah,  his  daughter,  to  be  his  wife.1 

One  day,  as  Moses  was  tending  his  flock  in  a  barren  place, 
he  saw  that  one  of  the  lambs  had  left  the  flock  and  was  escap¬ 
ing.  The  good  shepherd  pursued  it,  but  the  lamb  ran  so  much 
the  faster,  fled  through  valley  and  over  hill,  till  it  reached  a 
mountain  stream  ;  then  it  halted  and  drank. 

Moses  now  came  up  to  it,  and  looked  at  it  with  troubled 
countenance,  and  said, — 

“  My  dear  little  friend !  Then  it  was  thirst  which  made  the* 
run  so  far  and  seem  to  fly  from  me ;  and  I  knew  it  not !  Pool 
little  creature,  how  tired  thou  must  be  !  How  canst  thou  return 
so  far  to  the  flock  ?  ” 

And  when  the  lamb  heard  this,  it  suffered  Moses  to  take  it 
up  and  lay  it  upon  his  shoulders ;  and,  carrying  the  lamb,  he 
returned  to  the  flock. 

Now  whilst  Moses  walked,  burdened  with  the  lamb,  there 
fell  a  voice  from  heaven,  “  Thou,  who  hast  shown  so  great  love, 
so  great  patience  towards  the  sheep  of  man’s  fold,  thou  art 
worthy  to  be  called  to  pasture  the  sheep  of  the  fold  of  God.”  1 

4.  MOSES  BEFORE  PHARAOH. 

One  day  that  Moses  was  keeping  sheep,  his  father-in-law, 
Jethro,  came  to  him  and  demanded  back  the  staff  that  he  had 

1  Beer,  pp.  4^-02  ;  Pirke  R.  Eliezer.  The  Targum  of  Palestine  says 
the  rod  was  in  the  chamber  of  Jethro,  not  in  the  garden  ;  i.  p.  443.  Yas- 
char,  pp.  1277,  I278. 

'2  Rabbot.,  fol.  120  a.  It  is  possible  that  our  Blessed  Lord’s  parable  of 
the  Good  Shepherd  may  contain  an  allusion  to  this  popular  and  beautiful 
tradition. 


276 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


given  him.  Then  Moses  cast  the  staff  from  him  among  a  nura« 
her  of  other  rods,  but  the  staff  ever  returned  to  his  hand  as  often 
as  he  cast  it  away.  Then  Jethro  laid  hold  of  the  rod,  but  he 
could  not  move  it.  Therefore  he  was  obliged  to  let  Moses 
retain  it.  But  he  was  estranged  from  him. 

Now  Pharaoh  was  dead.  And  when  the  news  reached 
Moses  in  Midian,  he  gat  him  up,  and  set  his  wife  Zipporah  and 
his  son  Gershom  on  an  ass,  and  took  the  way  of  Egypt. 

And  as  they  were  in  the  way,  they  halted  m  a  certain  place 
and  it  was  cloudy,  and  cold,  and  rainy.  Then  they  encamped, 
and  Zipporah  tried  to  make  a  fire,  but  could  not,  for  the  wood 
was  damp. 

Moses  said,  “  I  see  a  fire  burning  at  the  foot  of  the  moun¬ 
tain.  I  will  go  to  it,  for  there  must  be  travellers  there  ;  and  I 
will  fetch  a  brand  away  and  will  kindle  a  fire,  and  be  warm.” 

Then  he  took  his  rod  in  his  hand  and  went.  But  when  he 
came  near  the  spot,  he  saw  that  the  fire  was  hot  on  the  ground, 
but  at  the  summit  of  a  tree ;  and  the  tree  was  a  thorn.  A 
thorn-tree  was  the  first  tree  that  grew,  when  God  created  the 
herb  of  the  field  and  the  trees  of  the  forest.  Moses  was  filled 
with  fear,  and  he  would  have  turned  and  fled,  but  a  voice  1 
called  to  him  out  of  the  fire,  “Moses,  Moses  /”  And  he  said, 
“  Here  am  I”  And  the  voice  said  again,  “  Put  off  chy  shoes 
fro?n  off  thy  feet ,  for  the  place  whereo?i  thou  standest  is  holy 
ground.”  This  was  the  reason  why  he  was  bidden  put  off  his 
shoes  ;  they  were  made  of  asses’  hide,  and  Moses  had  trodden 
on  the  dung  of  his  ass  as  he  followed  Zipporah  and  Gershom. 

Then  God  gave  Moses  his  commis-sion  to  go  into  Egypt, 
and  release  his  captive  people.  But  Moses  feared,  and  said, 
“  I  am  of  slow  lips  and  tongue  !  ”  for  he  had  burnt  them,  with 
his  finger,  when  he  took  the  live  coal  before  Pharoah,  as  al¬ 
ready  related.  But  God  said  to  him,  u  I  have  given  thee  Aaron 
thy  brother  to  speak  for  thee.  And  now,  what  is  this  that  thou 
hast  in  thy  hand  ?  ” 

Moses  answered,  “This  is  my  rod.” 

“  And  to  what  purpose  dost  thou  turn  it  ?  ” 

“  I  lean  on  it  when  I  am  walking,  and  when  I  cc  me  where 
there  is  no  grass,  I  strike  the  trees  therewith,  and  bring  down 
the  leaves  to  feed  my  sheep  withal.”  And  when  he  had  nar¬ 
rated  all  the  uses  to  which  he  put  the  staff,  God  said  to  him, 

1  Gen.  iii.  4  It  was  the  angel  Zagnugael  who  appeared  and  spoke  to 
Ijim  from  the  bush.  (Targum  of  Palestine,  i.  p.  449  ;  Abulfeda,  p.  31.) 


MOSES. 


277 


“  With  this  staff  shalt  thou  prevail  against  Pharaoh.”  Cast 
it  upon  the  ground.”  And  when  he  cast  it  down,  it  was  trans¬ 
formed  into  a  serpent  or  dragon,  and  Moses  turned  his  back 
to  run  from  it;  but  God  said,  “Fear  not;  take  it  up  by  the 
neck ;  ”  and  he  caught  it  and  it  became  a  rod  in  his  hands. 
Then  said  the  Most  Holy,  “  Put  thy  hand  into  thy  bosom.” 
And  he  did  so,  and  drew  it  forth,  and  it  was  white,  and  shining 
like  the  moon  in  the  dark  of  night. 

Then  Moses  desired  to  go  back  to  Zipporah  his  wife,  but 
the  angel  Gabriel  retained  him,  saying,  “  Thou  hast  higher 
duties  to  perform  than  to  attend  on  thy  wife.  Lo  !  I  have 
already  reconducted  her  to  her  father’s  house.  Go  on  upon 
thy  way  to  Pharaoh,  as  the  Lord  hath  commanded  thee.” 

The  night  on  which  Moses  entered  Egyptian  territory,  an 
angel  appeared  to  Aaron  in  a  dream,  with  a  crystal  glass 
full  of  good  wine  in  his  hand,  and  said,  as  he  extended  it  to 
him  : — 

“  Aaron,  drink  of  this  wine  which  the  Lord  sends  thee  as  a 
pledge  of  good  news.  Thy  brother  Moses  has  returned  to 
Egypt,  and  God  has  chosen  him  to  be  His  prophet,  and  thee 
to  be  his  spokesman.  Arise,  and  go  forth  to  meet  him !  ” 

Aaron  therefore  arose  from  his  bed  and  went  out  of  the  city 
to  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  but  there  was  no  boat  there  by  which 
he  could  cross.  Suddenly  he  perceived  in  the  distance  a  light 
which  approached  ;  and  as  it  drew  nearer  he  saw  it  was  a 
horseman.  It  was  Gabriel  mounted  on  a  steed  of  fire,  which 
shone  like  the  brightest  diamond,  and  whose  neighing  was 
hymns  of  praise,  for  the  steed  was  one  of  the  cherubim. 

Aaron  at  first  supposed  that  he  was  pursued  by  one  of 
Pharaoh’s  horsemen,  and  he  would  have  cast  himself  into  the 
Nile  ;  but  Gabriel  stayed  him,  declared  who  he  was,  mounted 
him  on  the  fiery  cherub,  and  they  crossed  the  Nile  on  his  back. 

There  stood  Moses,  who,  when  he  saw  Aaron,  exclaimed, 
“  Truth  is  come,  Falsehood  is  passed.”  Now  this  was  the 
sign  that  God  had  given  to  Moses,  “  Behold  he  cometh  to  meet 
thee.”  1  And  they  rejoiced  over  each  other. 

But  another  account  is  this  :  Moses  entered  Memphis  with 
his  sheep,  during  the  night.  Now  Amram  was  dead,  but 
his  wife  Jochebed  was  alive.  When  Moses  reached  the  door, 
Jochebed  was  awake.  He  knocked  at  the  door  ;  then  she 
opened,  but  knew  him  not,  and  asked,  “  Who  art  thou?  ” 

A  Exod.  iv.  14. 


278  OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 

He  answered,  “  I  am  a  man  from  a  far  country ,  I  pray  thee 
.odge  me,  and  give  me  to  eat  this  night.” 

She  took  him  in,  and  brought  him  some  meat,  and  said  to 
Aaron,  “  Sit  down  and  eat  with  the  guest,  to  do  him  honor.” 
Aaron,  in  eating  conversed  with  Moses  and  recognized  him. 

Then  the  mother  and  sister  knew  him  also.  And  when  the 
meal  was  over,  Moses  acquitted  himself  of  his  mission  to 
Aaron,  and  Aaron  answered,  “  I  will  obey  the  will  of  God.”  1 

Moses  spent  the  night,  and  the  whole  of  the  following  day, 
in  relating  to  his  mother  the  things  that  had  befallen  him. 

And  on  the  second  night,  Moses  and  Aaron  went  forth  to 
Pharoah’s  palace.  Now  the  palace  had  four  hundred  doors, 
a  hundred  on  each  side,  and  each  door  was  guarded  by  sixty 
thousand  fighting  men.  The  angel  Gabriel  came  to  them  and 
led  them  into  the  palace,  but  not  by  the  doors. 

When  they  appeared  before  Pharoah  they  said :  “  God  hath 
sent  us  unto  thee,  to  bid  thee  let  the  Hebrews  go,  that  they 
may  hold  a  feast  in  the  wilderness.” 

But  Pharoah  said,  “  Who  is  the  Lord, ’  that  I  should  obey  His 
voice  to  let  Israel  go  t  I  know  not  the  Lord,  neither  will  I  let 
Israel  go  1 2 

Tabari  tells  a  different  story.  Moses  and  Aaron  sought 
admittance  during  two  years.  Now  Pharoah  gave  himself  out 
to  be  a  god. 

But  Moses  and  Aaron,  when  they  spake  at  the  door  with 
the  porters,  said,  “  He  is  no  god.”  One  day  the  jester  of 
Pharoah  heard  his  master  read  the  history  of  his  own  life, 
and  when  he  came  to  the  passage  which  asserted  he  was  a 
god,  the  jester  exclaimed,  “  Now  this  is  strange !  For  two 
years  there  have  been  two  strangers  at  thy  gate  denying  thy 
divinity.” 

When  Pharoah  heard  this,  he  was  in  a  fury,  and  he  sent 
and  had  Moses  and  Aaron  brought  before  him. 

But  to  return  to  the  Rabbinic  tale.  Moses  and  Aaron  were 
driven  out  from  the  presence  of  Pharoah  \  and  he  said,  “  Who 
admitted  these  men  ?  ”  And  some  of  the  porters  he  slew,  and 
some  he  scourged. 

Then  two  lionesses  were  placed  before  the  palace  to  protect 
it,  and  the  beasts  suffered  no  man  to  enter  unless  Pharoah 
gave  the  word. 


1  Tabari,  i.  c.  lxxiii.  p.  24. 


9  Midrash,  foL  54. 


MOSES. 


279 


And  the  Lord  spake  to  Moses  and  Aaron,  saying,  l*  When 
Pharoah  talketh  with  you,  saying,  Give  us  a  miracle,  thou  shalt 
say  to  Aaron,  Take  thy  rod  and  cast  it  down,  and  it  shall 
become  a  basilisk  serpent;  for  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth 
shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  shriek  of  Egypt  when  I  destroy  it, 
as  all  creatures  heard  the  shriek  of  the  serpent  when  I  stripped 
it,  and  took  from  it  its  legs  and  made  it  lick  the  dust  after  the 
Fall.”  1 

On  the  morrow’,  Moses  and  Aaron  came  again  to  the  king’s 
palace,  and  the  lionesses  would  have  devoured  them.  Then 
Moses  raised  his  staff,  and  their  chains  brake,  and  they  followed 
him,  barking  like  dogs,  into  the  house/ 

When  Moses  and  Aaron  stood  before  the  king,  Aaron  cast 
down  the  rod  before  Pharaoh,  and  before  his  servants,  and  it 
became  a  serpent,  which  opened  its  jaw’s,  and  it  laid  one  jaw 
beneath  the  throne,  and  its  upper  jaw  was  over  the  canopy 
above  it ;  then  the  servants  lied  from  before  it,  and  Pharaoh 
hid  himself  beneath  his  throne,  and  the  fear  it  caused  him 
gave  him  bowel-complaint  for  a  week.  Now’  before  this  Pha¬ 
raoh  was  only  moved  once  a  week,  and  this  was  the  occasion 
of  his  being  lifted  up  with  pride,  and  giving  himself  out  to  be 
a  god.* 

Pharaoh  cried  out  from  under  the  throne,  “  O  Moses,  take 
hold  of  the  serpent,  and  1  will  do  what  you  desire.”  4 

Moses  took  hold  of  the  serpent,  and  it  became  a  rod  in  his 
hands.  Then  Pharaoh  crawled  out  from  under  his  throne,  and 
sat  down  upon  it.  And  Moses  put  his  hand  into  his  bosom, 
and  when  he  drew  it  forth,  it  shone  like  the  moon. 

The  king  sent  for  his  magicians,  and  the  chief  of  these 
were  Jannes  and  Jambres.  He  told  them  what  Moses  had 
done'. 

They  said,  “  We  can  turn  a  thousand  rods  into  serpents.” 

Then  the  king  named  a  day  when  Moses  and  Aaron  on  one 
side  should  strive  with  Jannes  and  Jambres6  and  all  the  magi¬ 
cians  on  the  other  ;  and  he  gave  them  a  month  to  prepare  foi 
the  contest. 

1  Targum  of  Palestine,  L  p.  460.  *  Yaschar,  p.  1280. 

8  Tabari,  p.  326. 

4  Some  say  that  Pharaoh  entreated  Moses  to  spare  him  for  the  sake  of 
Asia  (Bithia),  and  that  at  the  mention  of  hi*  name  Mose*  was  softened 
(Weil,  p.  159). 

b  In  Arabic,  Riaaa  and  Rijam  ;  and  Shabun  and  Gabun,  in  Persian. 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS . 


aSo 


On  the  day  appointed — it  was  Pharaoh’s  birthday — all  the 
inhabitants  of  Memphis  were  assembled  in  a  great  plain  out¬ 
side  the  city,  where  lists  were  staked  out,  and  the  royal  tent 
was  spread  for  the  king  to  view  the  contest 

Moses  and  Aaron  stood  on  one  side  and  the  magicians  on 
the  other. 

The  latter  said,  “  Shall  we  cast  our  rods,  or  will  you  ?  ” 

Moses  answered,  “  Do  you  cast  your  rods  first.” 

Then  the  magicians  threw  down  a  hundred  ass-loads  of 
rods,  tied  the  rods  together  with  cords,  and  by  their  enchant¬ 
ment  caused  them  to  appear  to  the  spectators  like  serpents, 
leaping  and  darting  from  one  side  of  the  arena  to  the  other. 

And  all  the  people  were  filled  with  fear,  and  the  magicians 
said,  “  We  have  this  day  triumphed  over  Moses.” 

Then  the  prophet  of  God  cast  his  rod  before  Pharaoh,  and 
it  became  a  mighty  serpent  It  rolled  its  tail  round  the  throne 
of  the  king,  and  it  shot  forth  its  head,  and  swallowed  all  the 
rods  of  the  enchanters,  so  that  there  remained  not  one. 

After  that  all  had  disappeared,  Moses  took  the  serpent, 
and  it  became  a  rod  in  his  hand  again,  but  all  the  rods  of  the 
magicians  had  vanished. 

And  when  the  magicians  saw  the  miracle  that  Moses  had 
wrought,  they  were  converted,  and  worshipped  the  true  God. 
But  Pharaoh  cut  off  their  hands  and  feet,  and  crucified  them , 
and  they  died.  Pharaoh’s  own  daughter  Maschita  believed 
and  the  king  in  his  rage  did  not  spare  her,  but  cast  her  into  a 
fire,  and  she  was  burnt.  Bithia  was  also  denounced  to  him. 
and  she  was  condemned  to  the  flames,  but  the  angel  Gabrie. 
delivered  her.  The  Mussulmans  say  that  he  consoled  her  by 
telling  her  that  she  would  become  the  wife  of  Mohammed  in 
Paradise,  after  which  he  gave  her  to  drink,  and  when  she  had 
tasted,  she  died  without  pain. 

Then  Moses  and  Aaron  met  Pharaoh  in  the  morning  as  he 
went  by  the  side  of  the  river,  and  Moses  said  to  the  king, 
The  Lord  of  the  Hebrews  hath  sent  me  unto  thee ,  saying ,  Let 
My  people  go ,  that  they  may  serve  Mein  the  wilderness .” 

But  Pharaoh  would  not  hearken  to  him.  Then  Aaron 
stretched  out  his  rod  over  the  river,  and  it  became  blood. 

All  the  water  that  was  in  the  vessels  also  became  blood, 
even  the  spittle  that  was  in  the  mouth  of  the  Egyptians.  The 
Rabbi  Levi  said  that  by  this  means  the  Israelites  realized  large 
fortunes  ;  for  if  an  Israelite  and  an  Egyptian  went  together  to 


MOSES. 


281 


the  Nile  to  fetch  water,  the  vessel  of  the  Egyptian  was  found 
to  contain  blood,  but  that  of  the  Israelite  pure  water  ;  but  if 
an  Israelite  brought  water  to  the  house  of  an  Egyptian  and  sold 
it,  it  remained  water.1 

But  Pharaoh’s  heart  was  hard ;  and  seven  days  passed, 
after  that  the  Lord  had  smitten  the  river. 

Then  went  Moses  and  Aaron  to  him.  But  the  four  hun¬ 
dred  doors  of  the  palace  were  guarded  by  bears,  lions,  and  other 
savage  beasts,  so  that  none  might  pass,  till  they  were  satisfied 
with  flesh.  But  Moses  and  Aaron  came  up,  collected  them 
together,  drew  a  circle  round  them  with  the  sacred  staff,  and 
the  wild  beasts  licked  the  feet  of  the  prophets  and  followed 
them  into  the  presence  of  Pharaoh.2 * 

Moses  and  Aaron  repeated  this  message  to  Pharaoh,  but 
he  would  not  hearken  to  them,  but  drove  them  from  his 
presence.  Aaron  smote  the  river ;  but  Moses  on  no  occasion 
smote  the  Nile,  for  he  respected  the  river  which  had  saved  his 
life  as  a  babe.a  Then  the  Lord  brought  frogs  upon  the  land, 
and  filled  all  the  houses ;  they  were  in  the  beds,  on  the  tables, 
in  the  cups.  And  the  king  sent  for  Moses  and  said  :  “  Intreat 
the  Lord ,  that  He  may  take  the  frogs  fro?n  me  and  from  i?iy  peo¬ 
ple.”  So  the  Lord  sent  a  great  rain,  and  it  washed  the  frogs 
into  the  Red  Sea. 

The  next  plague  was  lice.4 * 

The  fourth  plague  was  wild  beasts. 

The  fifth  was  murrain. 

The  sixth  was  boils  and  blains  upon  man  and  beast.* 

The  seventh  was  hail  and  tempest.  Now  Job  regarded  the 
word  of  Moses,  and  he  brought  his  cattle  within  doors,  and 
they  were  saved  ;  but  Balaam  regarded  it  not,  and  all  his  cattle 
were  destroyed." 

The  eighth  was  locusts  ;  these  the  Egyptians  fried,  and 
laid  by  in  store  to  serve  them  for  food  ;  but  when  the  west  wind 
came  to  blow  the  locusts  away,  it  blew  away  also  those  that  had 
been  pickled  and  laid  by  for  future  consumption.7 

The  ninth  plague  was  darkness. 

1  Midrash,  fol.  56.  The  Targums  say  that  the  enchanters  turned  the  wa¬ 
ter  of  Goshen  into  blood,  so  that  there  was  no  water  to  the  Israelites  as  to 

the  Egyptians ;  i,  p.  462. 

*  Midrash,  fol.  55.  8  Targum  of  Palestine,  i.  p.  463. 

4  Venomous  insects  (Raima),  gnats  (Kinnim).  See  Wisdom  xvi.  1,  3. 

*  Targums,  i.  464.  6  Targums,  i.  p.  467.  1  Ibid.,  i.  p.  471. 


2§2 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


The  tenth  was  the  death  of  the  first-born. 

The  book  of  Jasher  says  that,  the  Egyptians  having  closed 
their  doors  and  windows  against  the  plague  of  flies,  and  lo¬ 
custs,  and  lice,  God  sent  the  sea-monster  Silinoth,  a  huge 
polypus  with  arms  ten  cubits  long,  and  the  beast  climbed 
upon  the  roofs  and  broke  them  up,  and  let  down  its  slimy 
arms,  and  unlatched  all  the  doors  and  windows,  and  threw 
them  open  for  the  flies  and  locusts  and  lice  to  enter.1 

But  the  Mohammedans  gave  a  different  order  to  the  signs  : 
— (i)  the  rod  changed  into  a  serpent ;  (2)  the  whitened  hand  ; 
(3)  the  famine  ;  (4)  a  deluge,  the  Nile  rose  over  the  land  so 
that  every  man  stood  in  water  up  to  his  neck ;  (5)  locusts ; 
(6)  anommals — these  are  two-legged  animals  smaller  than 
locusts  ;  (7)  blood  ;  (8)  frogs  ;  (9)  every  green  thing  through¬ 
out  the  land,  all  fruit,  all  grain,  eggs,  and  everything  in  the 
houses  were  turned  to  stone.2 

After  the  plague  of  the  darkness,  Pharaoh  resolved  on  a 
general  massacre  of  all  the  children  of  the  Hebrews.  The 
Mussulmans  put  the  temporary  petrification  of  all  in  the  land 
in  the  place  of  the  darkness.  The  Book  of  Exodus  says  that 
during  the  darkness  “  they  saw  not  one  another ,  neither  rose  any 
from  his  place  but  the  Arabs  say  that  they  were  turned  to 
stone.  Here  might  be  seen  a  petrified  man  with  a  balance  in 
his  hand  sitting  in  the  bazaar  ;  there,  another  stone  man  count¬ 
ing  out  money ;  and  the  porters  at  the  palace  were  congealed 
to  marble  wjth  their  swords  in  their  hands.3  But  others  say 
that  this  was  a  separate  plague,  and  that  the  darkness  fol¬ 
lowed  it. 

And  now  Gabriel  took  on  him  the  form  of  a  servant  of  the 
king,  and  he  went  before  him  and  asked  him  what  was  his  desire. 

“That  vile  liar  Moses  deserves  death,”  said  Pharaoh. 

“  How  shall  I  slay  him  ?  ”  asked  Gabriel. 

“  Let  him  be  cast  into  the  water.” 

“  Give  me  a  written  order,”  said  the  angel.  Pharaoh  did  so. 

Then  Gabriel  went  to  Moses  and  told  him  that  the  time  was 
come  when  he  was  to  leave  Egypt  with  all  the  people,  for  the 
measure  of  the 'iniquity  of  Pharaoh  was  filled  up,  and  the  Lord 
would  destroy  him  with  a  signal  overthrow. 


1  Yaschar,  p.  1283. 


2  Tabari,  i.  p.  338. 


3  Weil,  p.  165. 


MOSES. 


5.  THE  PASSAGE  OF  THE  RED  SEA. 

The  Israelites  had  made  their  preparations  to  depart  out  of 
Egypt  a  month  before  the  call  came  to  escape. 

And  when  all  was  ready,  Moses  called  together  the  elders  of 
the  people  and  said  to  them,  “  When  Joseph  died,  he  ordered 
his  descendants  to  take  up  his  bones,  or  ever  they  went  out  of 
the  land,  and  to  bear  them  to  the  cave  of  Machpelah,  where' 
lie  the  bones  of  his  father  Jacob.  Where  are  the  bones  of 
Joseph  ?  ” 

The  elders  answered  him,  “We  do  not  know.” 

Now  there  was  an  old  Egyptian  woman,  named  Miriam,  and 
she  believed  in  the  Lord.  She  said  to  Moses,  “  I  will  show 
thee  where  is  the  tomb  of  Joseph,  if  thou  wilt  swear  unto  me 
that  thou  wilt  take  me  with  thee  from  Egypt,  and  that  thou  wilt 
ask  the  Most  High  to  admit  me  into  Paradise.” 

Moses  said,  “  I  will  do  these  things  that  thou  askest.” 

Then  the  woman  said,  “The  tomb  of  Joseph  is  in  the  mid¬ 
dle  of  the  river  Nile,  which  flows  through  Memphis,  at  such 
a  spot.” 

Moses  prayed  to  God,  and  the  water  fell  till  the  bed  of  the 
river  was  left  dry  ;  and  then  he  and  the  women  went  into  it, 
and  came  on  the  tomb  of  Joseph  ;  it  was  a  sarcophagus  of  mar¬ 
ble  without  joints.1 

Moses  made  preparations  for  departure,  and  said  to  the 
children  of  Israel,  “  God  will  destroy  the  Egyptians,  and  will 
give  you  their  precious  things.” 

Then  every  one  among  the  Hebrews  who  had  an  Egyp¬ 
tian  neighbor  said  to  him,  if  he  was  rich :  “  I  am  going  to  a 
feast  in  the  country,  I  pray  thee  lend  me  jewels  of  gold  and  sil¬ 
ver  to  adorn  my  wife  and  children.” 

The  Egyptians  lent  their  precious  things,  and  the  Israel¬ 
ites  by  this  means  found  themselves  possessed  of  borrowed 
jewels  in  great  abundance.  Then  Moses  said,  “  We  will  leave 
Egypt  this  night  when  the  Egyptians  are  asleep.  Let  every 
housekeeper  softly  desert  his  house,  and  bring  with  him  his 
precious  things,  and  meet  outside  the  town.  And  let  every 
one  slay  a  lamb,  and  sprinkle  with  the  blood  the  lintel  and 
door-posts  of  the  house,  that  the  neighbors  may  know,  when 
they  see  the  blood,  that  the  house  is  empty.” 

When  the  middle  of  the  night  was  passed,  the  Israelite* 

1  Talmud,  Sota,  fol.  1 3. 


284 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


were  assembled  outside  Memphis,  at  the  place  which  Moses 
had  appointed.  Then  the  host  was  numbered,  and  it  contain¬ 
ed  six  hundred  thousand  horsemen,  not  including  those  who 
were  on  foot,  the  women,  the  children,  and  the  aged.  All  who 
were  under  twenty  were  accounted  infants,  and  all  who  were 
over  sixty  were  accounted  aged. 

After  that,  Moses  placed  Aaron  in  command  of  the  first 
battalion,  and  he  said  to  him,  “  March  in  the  direction  of  the. 
sea,  for  Gabriel  has  promised  to  meet  me  on  its  shores.”  At 
that  time  one  branch  of  the  Nile  (the  Pelusiac  branch)  flowed 
into  the  Red  Sea,  which  extended  over  where  is  now  sandy 
desert  to  Migdol. 

Moses  made  the  host  follow  Aaron,  troop  by  troop,  and 
tribe  by  tribe  ;  and  he  brought  up  the  rear  with  a  strong  guard 
of  picked  men. 

It  was  dawning  towards  the  first  day  of  the  week  when 
Israel  escaped  out  of  Egypt. 

And  when  day  broke,  behold,  they  were  gone  away.  Then 
the  Egyptians  came  and- told  Pharaoh.  He  sent  to  search  all 
the  houses  of  the  Israelites,  but  they  were  all  empty,  only  their 
lamps  were  left  burning.  Pharaoh  said,  “  We  will  pursue  them.” 
The  Egyptians  said,  “They  have  borrowed  our  jewels  ;  we 
must  follow  after  them,  and  recover  what  is  our  own.” 

Now  Moses  had  used  craft  touching  these  ornaments,  in 
order  that  the  Egyptians  might  be  constrained  to  follow.  For 
if  the  Israelites  had  gone  without  these,  the  Egyptians  would 
have  rejoiced  at  their  departure.  But  because  they  had  bor¬ 
rowed  of  the  Egyptians,  therefore  the  Egyptians  went  after 
them  to  recover  their  ornaments,  and  by  this  means  rushed 
into  destruction. 

And  Israel  marched  all  day  through  the  wilderness  pro¬ 
tected  by  seven  clouds  of  glory  on  their  four  sides  :  one  above 
them,  that  neither  hail  nor  rain  might  fall  upon  then,  nor  that 
they  should  be  burned  by  the  heat  of  the  sun  ;  one  beneath 
them,  that  they  might  not  be  hurt  by  thorns,  serpents,  or  scor¬ 
pions  ;  and  one  went  before  them,  to  make  the  valleys  even, 
and  the  mountains  low,  and  to  prepare  them  a  place  of  habi¬ 
tation.1 

Also,  when  the  morning  dawned,  there  was  not  a  house  in 
all  Egypt  in  which  there  was  not  a  first-born  dead.  And  this 


1  Targum  of  Palestine,  i.  p.  1478. 


MOSES. 


**5 

delayed  the  people  from  pursuing  after  the  Israelites ;  fot  they 
were  engaged  in  bewailing  their  dead,  and  in  digging  graves 
for  them.  Thus  they  were  not  at  leisure  to  follow  after  their 
former  slaves,  till  they  had  escaped  clean  away. 

Also  that  night  was  every  metal  image  in  Egypt  molten, 
and  every  idol  of  stone  was  broken,  and  every  idol  of  clay  was 
shattered,  and  every  idol  of  wood  was  dissolved  to  dust.1 

The  same  day  Pharaoh  sent  into  all  the  cities  of  Egypt  and 
collected  an  army.  When  even  was  come  the  whole  army  was 
assembled  about  the  king,  and  Pharaoh  said  to  Dathan  and 
Abiram,  who  had  remained  behind,2  “  The  Israelites  are  few 
in  number,  they  are  entangled  in  the  land,  the  wilderness  hath 
shut  them  in.”  For  all  the  way  was  full  of  marshes  and  canals 
of  water  and  desert  tracts.  “  They  have  acted  wrongly  by  us, 
for  they  have  carried  away  the  ornaments  and  jewels  of  our 
people  ;  and  Moses,  by  magic,  has  slain  all  our  first-born,  so 
that  there  is  not  a  house  in  which  there  is  not  one  dead.” 

On  the  morrow — it  was  the  second  day  of  the  week — the 
army  was  reviewed,  and  Pharaoh  numbered  the  host,  and  he 
had  six  hundred  chosen  chariots,  and  two  million  foot  soldiers, 
and  five  million  horsemen,  and,  in  addition,  there  were  one 
million  seven  hundred  thousand  horses,  and  on  these  horses 
were  black  men. 

When  the  sun  rose  on  the  third  day,  Pharaoh  marched  out 
of  Memphis,  and  he  pursued  for  half  a  day  with  forced  marches. 
At  noon,  Pharaoh  had  come  up  with  Moses,  anr.  the  fore-front 
of  Pharaoh’s  army  thrust  the  rear-guard  of  the  army  of  Moses. 
Then  the  children  of  Israel  cried  unto  the  Lord,  and  they  said 
to  Moses,  “  Because  there  were  no  graves  i?i  Egypt ,  hast  thou  ta¬ 
ken  us  away  to  die  in  ( he  wilderness  l  Wherefore  hast  thou  dealt 
thus  with  us ,  to  carry  us  forth  out  of  Egypt  i  ” 

They  were  divided  into  four  opinions.  One  set  said,  “  Let  us 
ding  ourselves  into  the  sea.”  Another  set  said,  “  Let  us  return 
and  surrender  ourselves.”  The  third  set  said,  “  Let  us  array  bat¬ 
tle  against  the  Egyptians.”  The  fourth  recommended, “  Let  us 
shout  against  them,  and  frighten  them  away  with  our  clamor.”  * 

And  Moses  said  unto  the  people,  “  Bear  ye  not,  stand  dill, 
and  see  the  salvation  of  the  Lord.  The  Lord  shall  fght  for  you , 
and  ye  shall  hold  your  peace.”  * 

1  Targums,  i.  p.  475.  *  Xbtd.,  i.  p.  4I5 

*  Targum  of  Jerusalem,  i.  488  ;  Yaschar,  p.  1287. 

4  Exod.  xiv.  13,  14. 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS . 


#S6 

Then  Moses  raised  his  rod  over  the  sea,  and  it  divided,  and 
iet  twelve  channels  of  dry  land  appear  traversing  it,  one  for 
each  of  the  twelve  tribes.  “  When  Moses  had  smitten,”  says 
the  Koran,  “  the  sea  divided  into  twelve  heaps,  and  left  twelve 
ways  through  it,  and  each  heap  was  as  a  great  mountain.”  1 

The  Israelites  hesitated  to  enter  ;  for  they  said,  “  O  Moses  ! 
the  bottom  of  this  sea  is  black  mud,  and  when  we  place  our 
feet  on  it  we  shall  sink  in  and  be  swallowed  up.” 

But  Moses  prayed  to  God,  and  he  sent  a  wind  and  the  rays 
of  the  sun,  and  the  wind  and  the  sun  dried  the  mud,  and  it  be¬ 
came  as  sand. 

Then  Gabriel  and  Michael  appeared  to  Moses  and  said, 
Pass  on,  and  lead  the  people  through.  As  for  us,  we  have 
orders  to  tarry  for  Pharaoh.”  So  Moses  galloped  forward  into 
the  sea,  crying,  “In  the  name  of  the  merciful  and  glorious 
God  !  ”  and  all  the  people  went  in  after  him.  But  as  they 
marched  by  twelve  ways,  and  there  were  walls  of  water  be¬ 
tween,  they  could  not  see  each  other,  and  they  were  in  fear  \ 
therefore  Moses  prayed  to  the  Lord,  and  the  Lord  made  the 
water-heaps  rise  and  arch  over  them  like  bowers,  and  shelter 
them  from  the  fire  of  the  sun ;  and  He  made  the  watery  walls 
so  clear  they  were  as  sheets  of  glass,  and  through  them  the  col¬ 
umns  of  the  advancing  army  were  visible  to  each  other. 

Moses  traversed  the  sea  in  two  hours,  and  he  came  forth 
with  all  the  people  on  the  other  side. 

Then  Pharoah  and  his  host  came  to  the  water’s  side,  but  he 
feared  to  enter  in.  Now  Pharaoh  was  mounted  on  an  entire 
horse  of  great  beauty.  He  reined  in  his  steed  and  would  not 
go  forward,  for  he  thought  that  this  was  part  of  the  enchant¬ 
ment  of  Moses. 

But  now  Gabriel  appeared  mounted  on  a  mare,  and  this 
was  the  cherub  Ramka.2  And  when  the  horse  of  Pharaoh  saw 
the  mare  of  Gabriel,  he  plunged  forward  and  followed  the  mare 
into  the  sea.  Then,  when  the  Egyptian  army  saw  their  king 
enter  fearlessly  into  one  of  the  channels,  they  also  precipitated 
themselves  into  the  ways  through  the  deep. 

They  advanced  till  they  reached  the  middle  of  the  Red  Sea, 
and  then  Gabriel  reined  in  and  turned  and  unfurled  before 
Pharaoh  the  order  he  had  given  for  the  destruction  of  Moses 

1  Koran,  Sura  xxvi.  v.  63. 

*  Weil,  p.  168  ;  see  also  Midrash,  fol.  176. 


in  the  water,  and  it  was  signed  by  Pharoah  and  sealed  with  his 
own  signet. 

“  See  !  ”  exclaimed  the  angel,  “  What  thou  wouldest  do  to 
Moses,  that  shall  be  done  to  thee  ;  for  thou  art  but  a  man, 
thou  who  lightest  against  God.” 

Then  the  twelve  heaps  of  w;ater  overwhelmed  the  host.  But 
Pharaoh’s  horse  was  so  beet  of  foot  that  he  outhed  the  return¬ 
ing  waters,  and  he  brought  the  king  to  the  shore.  He  would 
have  been  saved,  had  not  Gabriel  smitten  him  on  the  face,  and 
he  fell  back  into  the  sea  and  perished  with  the  rest.  Then  said 
Miriam,  as  he  sank,  “  Sing  ye  to  the  Lord ,  for  he  hath  triumphed 
gloriously  ;  the  horse  and  his  rider  hath  He  thrown  i?ito  the  sea.”  1 

Another  curious  incident  is  related  by  Tabari.  When  the 
water  reached  Pharaoh,  and  he  knew  that  he  must  perish,  he 
cried  out,  “  I  believe  in  the  God  of  Israel  !  ”  Gabriel,  fearing 
lest  Pharaoh  should  repeat  these  words,  and  that  God  in  His 
mercy  should  accept  his  profession  of  faith,  and  pardon  him, 
passed  his  wing  over  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  raised  the  earth, 
and  threw'  it  into  the  mouth  of  Pharaoh  so  as  to  prevent  him 
from  swallowing  again,  and  said,  “  Now  thou  believest,  but 
before  thou  wrast  rebellious  ;  nevertheless,  thou  art  numbered 
with  the  wicked.”  3 

It  was  the  ninth  hour  of  the  day  when  the  children  of  Is¬ 
rael-  stood  on  dry  land  on  the  further  side  of  the  sea. 

On  the  morrow',  the  children  of  Israel  assembled  around 
Moses,  and  said  to  him,  “  We  do  not  believe  that  Pharaoh  is 
drowned,  for  he  had  peculiar  power.  He  never  suffered  from 
headache,  nor  from  fever,  nor  from  any  sickness,  and  was  in¬ 
ternally  moved  but  once  a  week.” 

Then  Moses  clave  the  sea  asunder  with  his  rod,  and  they 
saw  Pharaoh  and  all  his  host  dead  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea. 
The  bodies  of  the  Egyptians  were  covered  with  armor  and 
much  gold  and  silver,  and  on  the  corpse  of  Pharaoh  were 
chains  and  bracelets  of  gold.  The  children  of  Israel  would 
have  spoiled  the  dead,  but  Moses  forbade  them,  for  he  said, 
“  It  is  lawfful  to  spoil  the  living,  but  it  is  robbery  to  strip  the 
dead.”  Nevertheless  many  of  the  Hebrews  went  in  and  took 
from  the  Egyptians  all  that  was  valuable.  Then  God  was 
wroth,  because  they  had  disobeyed  Moses,  and  the  sea  was 
troubled,  and  for  ten  days  it  raged  with  fury,  and  even  to  thii 


1  Exod.  XT.  II. 


Tabari,  p  35a. 


288 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


day  the  water  is  not  at  rest  where  the  Israelites  committed 
this  sin.  And  the  name  of  that  place  at  this  day  is  Bab  el 
Taquath.”  1 


6.  THE  GIVING  OF  THE  LAW. 

As  long  as  Moses  was  with  them,  the  Israelites  did  not 
venture  to  make  idols,  but  when  God  summoned  Moses  into 
the  Mount  to  talk  with  Him  face  to  face,  than  they  spake  to 
Aaron  that  he  should  make  a  molten  god  to  go  before  them. 

Aaron  bade  them  break  off  their  earrings  and  bracelets  and 
give  them  to  him,  for  he  thought  that  they  would  be  reluctant 
to  part  with  their  jewels.  Nevertheless  the  people  brought 
their  ornaments  to  him  in  great  abundance,  and  one  named 
Micah  cast  them  into  a  copper  vessel  ;  and  when  the  gold  was 
melted,  he  threw  in  a  handful  of  the  sand  which  had  been 
under  the  hoof  of  Gabriel’s  horse,  and  there  came  forth  a  calf, 
which  ran  about  like  a  .living  beast,  and  bellowed ;  for  Sam- 
mael  (Satan)  had  entered  into  it.  “  Here  is  your  god  that 
shall  go  before  you,”  cried  Micah  ;  and  all  the  people  fell 
down  and  worshipped  the  golden  calf.2 

And  when  Moses  came  down  from  the  Mount  and  drew 
near  to  the  camp,  and  saw  the  calf,  and  the  instruments  of 
music  in  the  hands  of  the  wicked,  who  were  dancing  and 
bowing  before  it,  and  Satan  among  them  dancing  and -leaping 
before  the  people,  the  wrath  of  Moses  was  suddenly  kindled, 
and  he  cast  the  tables  of  the  Commandments,  which  he  had 
received  from  God  on  the  Mount,  out  of  his  hand  and  brake 
them  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  ;  but  the  holy  writing  that  was 
on  them  flew,  and  was  carried  away  into  the  heavens  ;  and  he 
cried  and  said,  “Woe  upon  the  people  who  have  heard  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Holy  One,  ‘  Thou  shalt  not  make  to  thyself 
any  image,  a  figure,  or  any  likeness  ;  ’  and  yet  at  the  end  of 
forty  days  make  a  useless  molten  calf  !  ” 

And  he  took  the  calf  which  they  had  made,  and  burned  it 
with  fire,  and  crushed  it  to  powder,  and  cast  it  upon  the  face 
of  the  water  of  the  stream,  and  made  the  sons  of  Israel  drink  ; 


1  Tabari,  i.  p.  355. 

2  Both  the  Rabbis  and  the  Mussulmans  lay  the  blame,  not  on  Aaron, 
but  on  another.  The  Rabbis  say  it  was  Micah  who  made  the  calf ;  the 
Mussulmans  call  him  Samiri.  (Will.  p.  170.) 


MOSES.  389 

and  whoever  had  given  thereto  any  trinket  of  gold,  the  sign 
of  it  came  forth  upon  his  nostrils.1 

Of  all  the  children  of  Israel  only  twelve  thousand  were 
found  who  had  not  worshipped  the  calf.3 

The  Mussulmans  say  that  the  Tables  borne  by  Moses  were 
from  ten  to  twelve  cubits  in  length,  and  were  made,  say  some, 
of  cedar  wood,  but  others  say  of  ruby,  others  of  carbuncle  ; 
but  the  general  opinion  is  that  they  were  of  sapphire  or  emer¬ 
ald  ; 3  and  the  letters  were  graven  within  them,  not  on  the 
surface,  so  that  the  words  could  be  read  on  either  side.  When 
the  golden  calf  had  been  pounded  to  dust,  Moses  made  the 
Israelites  drink  water  in  which  was  the  dust,  and  those  who  had 
kissed  the  idol  were  marked  with  gilt  lips.  Thus  the  Levites 
were  able  to  distinguish  them ;  and  they  slew  of  them  twenty 
and  three  thousand.4 

It  is  a  common  tradition  among  the  Jews  that  the  red  hair 
which  is  by  no  means  infrequently  met  with  in  the  Hebrew  race 
is  derived  from  this  period  ;  all  those  who  had  sinned  and 
drank  of  the  water  lost  their  black  hair  and  it  became  red,  and 
they  transmitted  the  color  to  their  posterity. 

Another  version  of  the  story  is  as  follows.  Samiri  (Micah), 
who  had  fashioned  the  golden  calf,  was  of  the  tribe  of  Levi. 
When  Moses  came  down  from  the  Mount,  he  would  have  beat¬ 
en  Aaron,  but  his  brother  said,  “  It  is  not  I,  it  is  Samiri  who 
made  the  calf.”  Then  Moses  would  have  slain  Samiri,  but 
God  forbade  him,  and  ordered  him  instead  to  place  him  under 
ban. 

From  that  time  till  now,  the  man  wanders,  like  a  w'ild  beast, 
from  one  end  of  the  earth  to  the  other  ;  every  man  avoids  him, 
and  cleanses  the  earth  on  which  his  feet  have  rested  ;  and  when 
he  comes  near  any  man,  he  cries  out,  “  Touch  me  not !  ” 

But  before  Moses  drave  Samiri  out  of  the  camp,  he  ground 
the  calf  to  powder,  and  made  Samiri  pollute  it ;  then  he  mixed 
t  with  the  water,  and  gave  it  to  the  Israelites  to  drink.  After 
Samiri  had  departed,  Moses  interceded  with  God  for  the  people. 
But  God  answered,  “  I  cannot  pardon  them,  for  their  sin  is  yet 
in  them,  and  it  will  only  be  purged  out  by  the  draught  they 
have  drunk.” 

When  Moses  returned  to  the  camp,  he  heard  a  piteous  cry. 


1  Targum  of  Palestine  i.  p.  552.  *  Tabari  i.  p.  362. 

8  Targum  of  Palestine,  ii.  p  6S5.  *  Pirke  R.  Eliezer.  c.  45, 

13 


290 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


Many  Israelites  with  yellow  faces  and  livid  bodies  cast  them¬ 
selves  before  him,  and  cried,  “  Help!  Moses,  help  !  the  gold¬ 
en  calf  consumes  our  intestines  ;  we  will  repent  and  die,  if  the 
Lord  will  pardon  us.” 

Some,  really  contrite,  were  healed.  Then  a  black  cloud 
came  down  on  the  camp,  and  all  those  who  were  in  it  fought 
with  one  another  and  slew  one  another  ;  but  upon  the  innocent 
the  swords  had  no  power.  Seven  thousand  idolaters  had  been 
slain,  when  Moses,  hearing  the  cry  of  the  women  and  children, 
came  and  prayed  ;  and  the  cloud  vanished,  and  the  sword 
rested.’ 

According  to  some,  the  complaint  caused  by  swallowing  the 
dust  of  the  calf  was  jaundice,  a  complaint  which  has  never 
ceased  from  among  men  since  that  day.  Thus  the  calf  brought 
two  novelties  into  the  world,  red  hair  and  jaundice. 

And  Moses  went  up  again  into  the  Mount,  and  took  with 
him  seventy  of  the  elders.  And  he  besought  the  Lord,  “  Suffer 
me,  O  Lord,  to  see  Thee !  ” a  But  the  Lord  answered  him, 
“  Thinkest  thou  that  thou  canst  behold  Me  and  live?  ”  And 
He  said,  “  Look  at  this  mountain ;  I  will  display  Myself  to 
this  mountain.” 

Then  the  mountain  saw  God,  and  it  dissolved  into  fine  dust. 
So  Moses  knew  that  it  was  not  for  him  to  see  God,  and  he  re¬ 
pented  that  he  had  asked  this  thing.3  After  that  he  went  with 
the  seventy  elders  to  Sinai,  and  a  cloud,  white  and  glistening, 
came  down  and  rested  on  the  head  of  Moses,  and  then  de¬ 
scended  and  wholly  enveloped  him,  so  that  the  seventy  saw  him 
not ;  and  when  he  was  in  the  cloud,  he  received  again  the 
Tables  of  the  Commandments,  and  he  came  forth  out  of  the 
cloud.  But  they  murmured  that  they  had  not  also  received  the 
revelation.  Then  the  cloud  enveloped  them  also,  and  they 
heard  all  the  words  that  had  been  spoken  to  Moses  ;  and  after 
that  they  said,  “  Now  we  believe,  because  we  have  heard  with 
our  own  ears.” 

Then  the  wrath  of  God  blazed  forth,  and  a  thundering  was 
heard  so  great  and  terrible  that  they  fainted  and  died.  But  Mo¬ 
ses  feared,  and  he  prayed  to  God,  and  God  restored  the  seventy 
men  to  life  again  and  they  came  down  the  Mount  with  him.4 

And  it  was  at  this  time  that  the  face  of  Moses  shone  with 
the  splendor  which  had  come  upon  him  from  the  brightness 

’  Weil,  pp.  172,  173  *  Koran,  Sura  vii.  v.  139. 

*  Tabari,  i.  p.  364.  4  Ibid  i.  c.  Ixxv. 


MOSES. 


291 


of  the  glo  y  of  the  Lord’s  Shekinah  in  the  time  of  His  speaking 
with  him.  And  Aaron  and  all  the  sons  of  Israel  saw  Moses, 
and,  behold,  the  glory  of  his  face  was  dazzling,  so  that  they 
were  afraid  to  come  near  to  him.  And  Moses  called  to  them, 
and  Aaron,  and  all  the  princes  of  the  congregation  ;  and  he 
taught  them  all  that  the  Lord  had  spoken  to  him  on  Mount 
Sinai  And  when  Moses  spoke  with  them,  he  had  a  veil  upon 
his  face  ;  and  when  he  went  up  to  speak  with  the  Lord,  he  re¬ 
moved  tire  veil  from  his  countenance  until  he  came  forth.1 

This  was  the  reason  why  the  face  of  Moses  shone.  Lie  saw 
the  light  which  God  had  created,  whereby  Adam  was  enabled  to 
see  from  one  end  of  the  earth  to  the  other.  God  showed  this 
light  now  to  Moses,  and  thereby  he  was  able  to  see  to  Dan.* 

When  Moses  went  up  into  the  Mount,  a  cloud  received 
him,  and  bore  him  into  heaven.  On  his  way,  he  met  the  door¬ 
keeper  Kemuel,  chief  of  twelve  thousands  of  angels  of  destruc¬ 
tion  ;  they  were  angels  of  fire ;  and  he  would  have  prevented 
Moses  from  advancing:  then  Moses  pronounced  the  Name  in 
twelve  letters,  revealed  to  him  by  God  from  the  Burning  Bush, 
and  the  angel  and  his  host  recoiled  before  that  word  twelve 
thousand  leagues.  But  some  say  that  Moses  smote  the  angel, 
and  wounded  him. 

A  little  further,  Moses  met  another  angel ;  this  was  Hadar- 
niel,  who  had  a  terrible  voice,  and  every  word  he  uttered  split 
into  twelve  thousand  lightnings ;  he  reigned  six  hundred  thou¬ 
sand  leagues  higher  than  Kemuel.  Moses,  in  fear,  wept  at  his 
voice,  and  would  have  fallen  out  of  the  cloud,  had  not  God 
restrained  him.  Then  the  prophet  pronounced  the  Name  of 
seventy-two  letters,  and  the  angel  fled. 

Next  he  came  to  the  fiery  angel  Sandalfon,  and  he  would 
have  fallen  out  of  the  cloud,  but  God  held  him  up.  Then  he 
reached  the  river  of  flame,  called  Rigjon,  which  flows  from  the 
beasts  which  are  beneath  the  Throne,  and  is  filled  with  their 
sweat;  across  this  God  led  him.3 

It  is  asserted  by  the  Rabbis  that  Moses  learnt  the  whole 
law  in  the  forty  days  that  he  was  in  the  Mount,  but  as  he  de¬ 
scended  from  the  immediate  presence  of  God,  he  entered  the 
region  where  stood  the  angels  guarding  the  Mount,  and  when 
he  saw  the  Angel  of  Fear,  the  Angel  of  Sweat,  the  Angel  of 
Trembling,  and  the  Angel  of  Cold  Shuddering,  he  was  sc  fill- 

1  Targum  of  Palestine,  i.  p.  561.  *  Jujkut  Rubeni,  fol.  1:7,  col.  I. 

1  Jalkut  Rubeni,  fol.  107,  cols.  ?  % 


GLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


292 

ed  with  consternation,  that  he  forgot  all  that  he  had  learnt. 
Then  God  sent  the  Angel  Jephipha,  who  brought  back  all 
to  his  remembrance ;  and,  armed  with  the  law,  Moses  passed 
the  ranks  of  all  the  angels,  and  each  gave  him  some  secret  or 
mystery ;  one  the  art  of  mixing  simples,  one  that  of  reading  in 
the  stars,  another  that  of  compounding  antidotes,  a  fourth  the 
secret  of  name,  or  the  Kabalistic  mystery.1 * 

It  is  said  by  the  Mussulmans,  that  when  the  law  was  de¬ 
clared  to  the  children  of  Israel  by  Moses,  they  refused  to  re¬ 
ceive  it ;  then  Mount  Sinai  rose  into  the  air,  and  moved  above 
them,  and  they  fled  from  it ;  but  it  followed  them,  and  hung 
over  their  heads  ready  to  crush  them.  And  Moses  said,  “  Ac¬ 
cept  the  law,  or  the  mountain  will  fall  on  you  and  destroy  you.” 

Then  they  fell  on  their  faces  and  placed  the  right  side  of 
the  brow  and  right  cheek  against  the  ground  and  looked  up 
with  the  left  eye  at  the  mountain  that  hung  above  them,  and 
said,  “  We  will  accept  the  law.”  This  is  the  manner  in  which 
the  Jews  to  this  day  perform  their  worship,  says  Tabari ;  they 
place  the  brow  and  right  cheek  and  eye  upon  the  ground,  and 
turn  the  left  cheek  and  eye  to  heaven,  and  in  this  position 
they  pray.* 

7.  THE  MANNA.  (Exod.  Xvi.) 

All  the  time  that  Israel  wandered  in  the  wilderness  they 
were  given  manna,  or  angels’  food.  This  food  is  ground  by 
the  angels  in  heaven,  as  Moses  saw  when  he  was  there.  For 
when  Moses  was  in  heaven,  he  knew  not  when  it  was  night  and 
when  it  was  day,  till  he  listened  to  the  song  of  the  angels  ;  and 
when  they  sang  “  Holy  God,”  then  he  knew  it  was  morning 
below  on  earth ;  and  when  they  sang  “  Blessed  be  thou,”  he 
knew  it  was  evening  below.  Also  he  observed  the  angels  grind¬ 
ing  the  manna  and  casting  it  down  ;  and  then  he  knew  it  was 
night,  and  they  were  strewing  it  for  the  Israelites  to  gather  in 
the  morning.3  It  is  in  the  third  firmament,  called  Schechakim 
(clouds),  that  the  mills  are  in  which  manna  is  ground.4  Along 
with  the  manna  fell  pearls  and  diamonds,  and  on  the  mountain 
it  was  heaped  so  high  that  it  could  be  seen  from  afar.3 

1  Jalkut  Rubeni,  fol.  107,  col.  3. 

1  Tabari,  i.  p.  371  ;  also  Midrash,  fol.  30. 

8  Parascha  R.  Bechai,  fob  116. 

4  Talmud,  Tract  Hajada,  fob  1. 1,  cob  a. 

i  Talmud,  Tract.  Joma,  fob  75,  cob  1 


MOSES. 


*93 


And  the  manna,  this  bread  from  heaven,  contained  in  it¬ 
self  all  sweetness;  and  whatsoever  any  man  desired  to  eat,  the 
manna  tasted  to  him  as  if  it  were  that  food.1  Thus,  if  any 
one  said,  “  I  wish  I  had  a  fat  bird,”  the  manna  tasted  like  a 
fat  bird.  But  usually  it  had  the  taste  of  cakes  made  of  oil, 
honey,  and  fine  flour,  according  to  the  words  of  the  Lord,  “  My 
meat  also  which  I  gave  thee ,  fine  flour,  and  oil,  and  honey  where¬ 
with  I  fed  thee  ”  (Ezek.  xvi.  io).2  The  Targum  of  Palestine 
thus  describes  the  fall  of  the  manna  : — In  the  morning  there 
was  a  fall  of  holy  dew,  prepared  as  a  table,3  round  about  the 
camp  ;  and  the  clouds  ascended  and  caused  manna  to  descend 
upon  the  dew  ;  and  there  was  upon  the  face  of  the  desert  a 
minute  substance  in  lines,  minute  as  the  hoar  frost  upon  the 
ground.  And  the  sons  of  Israel  beheld,  and  wondered,  and 
said  to  one  another,  “  Man  hu  ?  ”  (What  is  it  ?)  for  they  knew 
not  what  it  was.  And  Moses  said  to  them,  “  It  is  the  bread 
which  hath  been  laid  up  for  you  from  the  beginning  in  the 
heavens  on  high,  and  now  the  Lord  will  give  it  you  to  eat. 
This  is  the  word  which  the  Lord  hath  dictated  :  You  are  to 
gather  of  it ;  every  man  according  to  the  number  of  the  per¬ 
sons  of  his  tabernacle.” 

And  the  children  of  Israel  did  so,  and  gathered  manna  more 
or  less.  And  Moses  said  to  them,  “  Let  no  man  reserve  of  it 
till  the  morning.” 

But  some  of  them,  Dathan  and  Abiram,  men  of  wickedness, 
did  reserve  of  it  till  the  morning  ;  but  it  produced  worms,  and 
putrefied.  And  they  gathered  from  the  time  of  the  dawn  until 
the  fourth  hour  of  the  day  ;  when  the  sun  had  waxed  hot  upon 
it,  it  liquefied  and  made  streams  of  water,  which  flowed  away 
into  the  great  sea ;  and  wild  animals  that  were  clean,  and  cat¬ 
tle,  came  to  drink  of  it ;  and  the  sons  of  Israel  hunted,  and  ate 
them.4 

Some  of  the  Gentiles,  the  Edomites  and  Midianites,  came 
up,  and,  seeing  the  chosen  people  eating,  they  also  gathered  of 
the  manna  and  tasted,  but  it  was  to  them  as  wormwood.5 

1  This  is  sanctioned  by  Scripture  :  “  Thou  /oddest  T hine  ozun  people  with 
angels  food ,  and  didst  send  them  from  heaven  bread  prepared  without  their 
labor ,  able  to  content  every  man’s  delight ,  and  agreeing  to  evety  taste.” 
(Wisdorcvxvi.  20.) 

*  Talmud,  Tract.  Joma,  fol.  75,  col.  1  ;  Scliemoth  Rabba,  fol.  115,  col  4. 

8  To  this  tradition  perhaps  David  refers,  Ps.  xxiii,  5,  lxxviii.  19. 

4  Targum  of  Palestine,  i.  pp.  499,  500 

8  Jalkut  Shimoni,  fol.  73,  col.  4. 


4 


*94 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


8.  THE  SMITTEN  ROCK.  (Exod.  X\Tii.  I -7.) 

And  all  the  congregation  of  the  sons  of  Israel  journeyed 
from  the  desert  of  Sin  and  encamped  in  Rephidim,  a  place 
where  their  hands  were  idle  in  the  commandments  of  the  law, 
and  the  fountains  were  dry,  and  there  was  no  water  for  the  peo- 
pie  to  drink. 

And  the  wicked  of  the  people  contended  with  Moses,  and 
said  “  Give  us  water  that  we  may  drink.”  And  Moses  said  to 
them,  “  Why  contend  ye  with  me  ?  Why  tempt  ye  the  Lord  ?” 

But  the  people  were  athirst  for  water,  and  the  people  mur¬ 
mured  against  Moses  and  said,  “  Why  hast  thou  made  us  come 
up  out  of  Egypt  to  kill  us,  and  our  children,  and  our  cattle,  with 
thirst  ?  ” 

And  Moses  prayed  before  the  Lord,  saying,  “  What  shall  I 
do  for  this  people  ?  Yet  a  little  while,  and  they  will  stone  me.” 

And  the  Lord  said  to  Moses,  “  Pass  over  before  the  people, 
and  take  the  rod,  with  which  thou  didst  smite  the  river,  in 
thine  hand,  and  go  from  the  face  of  their  murmuring.  Behold, 
I  will  stand  before  thee  there,  on  the  spot  where  thou  sawest 
the' impression  of  the  foot  on  Horeb  ;  and  thou  shalt  smite  the 
rock  with  thy  rod,  and  therefrom  shall  come  forth  waters  for 
drinking,  and  the  people  shall  drink.” 

And  Moses  did  so  before  the  Elders  of  Israel.  And  he 
called  the  name  of  that  place  Temptation  and  Strife  ;  because 
the  people  strove  with  him  there,  and  tempted  God.1 

Tabari  gives  these  particulars  concerning  the  smitten  rock. 
In  the  desert  there  was  no  water.  Moses  prayed  to  God,  and 
He  commanded  him  to  strike  a  rock  with  his  staff. 

Some  say  that  this  was  an  ordinary  stone  in  the  desert,  oth¬ 
ers  that  it  was  a  stone  from  Sinai  which  Moses  carried  about 
with  him  that  he  might  stand  on  it  whenever  he  prayed.  Moses 
struck  the  rock,  and  twelve  streams  spouted  from  it. 

Then  Moses  said,  “  You  have  manna  and  quails  in  abun¬ 
dance,  gather  only  sufficient  for  the  day,  and  you  shall  have 
fresh  on  the  morrow.”  But  they  would  not  obey  his  word  ; 
therefore  the  Lord  withdrew  the  birds,  and  the  people  were 
famished.  Then  Moses  besought  the  Lord,  and  the  quails  were 
restored  to  them.  And  this  is  how  the  quails  fell  in  the  camp.2 
A  wind  smote  them  as  they  flew  over  the  camp,  and  broke 
their  wings. 

1  Targum  of  Palestine,  L  pp.  501,  502.  *  Tabari,  L  p.  393. 


MOSES. 


*95 

Then  the  peoplft  murmured  again,  and  said  to  Moses,  “  The 
heat  is  intolerable,  we  cannot  endure  it” 

So  he  prayed,  and  God  sent  a  cloud  to  overshadow  Israel ; 
and  it  gave  them  cool  shade  all  the  day.1 

After  that  they  complained,  “  We  want  clothes.”  Then  God 
wrought  a  marvel,  and  their  clothes  waxed  not  old  and  ragged, 
nor  did  their  shoes  wear  out,  nor  did  dirt  and  dust  settle  on 
their  garments.3 

It  is  also  commonly  related  that  the  rock  followed  the 
Israelites,  like  the  pillar  of  fire  and  the  manna,  all  the  time 
they  went  through  the  wilderness ;  to  this  tradition  S.  Paul 
alludes  when  he  says,  “  They  drank  of  thai  spiritual  rock  that 
followed  thorn ,  and  that  rock  was  Christ .”  * 


9.  MOFKS  VISITS  IL  KHOUD*. 

One  day,  say  the  Mussulmans,  Moses  boasted  before  Joshua 

his  wisdom.  Then  said  God  to  him,  “  Go  to  the  place 
where  the  sea  of  the  Greeks  joins  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  there 
you  will  find  one  who  surpasses  you  in  wisdom.” 

Moses  therefore  announced  to  the  Hebrews,  who  continued 
their  murmurs,  that,  in  punishment  for  their  stifTneckedness 
and  rebellion,  they  were  condemned  by  God  to  wander  for 
forty  years  in  the  desert. 

Then  having  asked  God  how  he  should  recognize  the  wise 
man  of  whom  God  had  spoken  to  him,  he  was  bidden  take  a 
fish  in  a  basket  \  “and,”  said  God,  “the  fish  will  lead  thee  to 
my  faithful  servant” 

Moses  went  on  his  way  with  Joshua,  having  the  fish  in  a  ' 
basket.  In  the  evening  he  arrived  on  the  shore  of  the  sea  and 
fell  asleep. 

When  he  awoke  in  the  morning,  Joshua  forgot  to  take  the 
fish,  and  Moses  not  regarding  it,  they  had  advanced  far  on 
their  journey  before  they  remembered  that  they  had  neglected 
the.  basket  and  fish.  Then  they  returned  and  sought  where 
they  had  slept,  but  they  found  the  basket  empty.  As  they 
were  greatly  troubled  at  this  loss,  they  saw  the  fish  before 
them,  standing  upright  like  a  man,  in  the  sea ;  and  it  led  them, 

1  Koran,  Sura  ii.  ▼.  54* 

*  Tabari,  L  p.  394  ;  but  aUo  Deut.  viii.  4,  Nebcmlah  lx.  2 1. 

8  1  Cor.  x.  i. 


,96  OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 

and  they  followed  along  the  coast ;  and  they  did  not  stay  till 
their  guide  suddenly  vanished. 

Supposing  that  they  had  reached  their  destination,  they 
explored  the  neighborhood,  and  found  a  cave,  at  the  entrance 
to  which  were  inscribed  these  words,  “  In  the  Name  of  the  all- 
powerful  and  all-merciful  God.”  Joshua  and  Moses,  entering 
this  cavern,  found  a  man  seated  there,  fresh  and  blooming,  but 
with  white  hair  and  a  long  white  beard  which  descended  to 
his  feet.  This  was  the  prophet  El  Khoudr. 

Some  say  he  was  the  same  as  Elias,  some  that  he  was  Jer¬ 
emiah,  some  that  he  was  Lot,  and  some  that  he  was  Jonah. 
The  greatest  uncertainty  reigns  as  to  who  El  Khoudr  really  is. 
All  that  is  known  of  him  is  that  he  went  with  Alexander  the 
Two-horned,  to  the  West,  and  drank  of  the  fountain  of  immor¬ 
tality,  and  thenceforth  he  lives  an  undying  life,  ever  fresh,  but 
also  marked  with  the  signs  of  a  beautiful  old  age. 

El  Khoudr  derives  his  name  from  the  circumstance  of  his 
having  sat  on  a  bare  stone,  and  when  he  rose  from  it  the  stone 
was  green  and  covered  with  grass.1 

In  later  times  he  was  put  to  death  for  the  true  faith  with 
various  horrible  tortures,  by  an  idolatrous  king,  but  he  revived 
after  each  execution. 

The  explanation  of  the  mystery  of  El  Khoudr  is  this.  He 
is  the  old  Sun-god  Thammuz  of  the  Sabaeans,  and  when  he 
was  dethroned  by  Mohammed,  he  sank  in  popular  tradition  to 
the  level  of  a  prophet,  and  all  the  old  myths  of  the  Sun-god 
were  related  of  the  prophet 

His  wandering  to  the  West  is  the  sun  setting  there ;  his 
drinking  there  of  the  well  of  immortality  is  the  sun  plunging 
into  the  sea.  His  clothing  the  dry  rock  with  grasS  is  signifi¬ 
cant  of  the  power  of  the  sun  over  vegetation.  His  torments 
are  figures  of  the  sun  setting,  in  storm,  in  flames  of  crimson,  or 
swallowed  by  the  black  thunder-cloud :  but  from  all  his  perils 
he  rises  again  in  glory  in  the  eastern  sky.2 

Moses  said  to  El  Khoudr,  “  Take  me  for  thy  disciple,  per¬ 
mit  me  to  accompany  thee,  and  to  admire  the  wisdom  God 
hath  given  thee.” 

1  Tabari,  i.  p.  373. 

See  my  “  Curious  Myths  of  the  Middle  Ages,”  article  on  S.  George. 
I  have  no  doubt  whatever  that  El  Khoudr,  identified  by  the  Jews  with 
Elia*,  is  the  original  of  the  Wandering  Jew.  I  did  not  know  this  when  1 
wrote  on  the  “Wandering  Jew”  in  my  “Curious  Myths,”  but  I  believe 
this  to  be  the  key  to  the  whole  story. 


MOSES. 


29; 

“  Thou  canst  not  understand  it,”  answered  the  venerable 
man.  “  Moreover,  thy  stay  with  me  is  short.” 

“  I  will  be  patient  and  submissive,”  said  Moses  ;  “  for  God’s 
sake,  reject  me  not.” 

“  Thou  mayest  follow  me,”  said  the  sage.  “  But  ask  me 
no  questions,  and  wait  till  I  give  thee,  at  my  pleasure,  the 
sense  of  that  which  thou  comprehendest  not.” 

Moses  accepted  the  condition,  and  El  Ivhoudr  led  him  to 
the  sea,  where  wras  a  ship  at  anchor.  The  prophet  took  a 
hatchet,  and  cut  two  timbers  out  of  her  side,  so  that  she 
foundered. 

“  What  art  thou  doing  ?  ”  asked  Moses  ;  “  the  people  on 
board  the  ship  will  be  drowned.” 

“  Did  I  not  say  to  thee  that  thou  wouldst  not  remain  patient 
for  long?  ”  said  the  sage. 

Pardon  me,”  said  Moses  ;  “  I  forgot  what  I  had  promised.” 

El  Khoudr  continued  his  course.  Soon  they  met  a  beauti¬ 
ful  child  who  was  playing  with  shells  on  the  sea-shore.  The 
prophet  took  a  knife  which  hung  at  his  girdle,  and  cut  the 
throat  of  the  child. 

“  Wherefore  hast  thou  killed  the  innocent  ?  ”  asked  Moses, 
in  horror. 

“  Did  I  not  say  to  thee,”  repeated  El  Khoudr,  “  that  thy 
journey  with  me  would  be  short  ?  ” 

“  Pardon  me  once  more,”  said  Moses  ;  “  if  I  raise  my  voice 
again,  drive  me  from  thee.” 

After  having  continued  their  journey  for  some  way,  they 
arrived  at  a  large  town,  hungry  and  tired.  But  no  one  would 
take  them  in,  or  give  them  food,  except  for  money. 

El  Khoudr,  seeing  that  the  wall  of  a  large  house,  from  which 
he  had  been  driven  away,  menaced  ruin,  set  it  up  firmly,  and 
then  retired.  Moses  was  astonished,  and  said,  “Thou  hast 
done  the  work  of  several  masons  for  many  days.  Ask  for  a 
wage  which  will  pay  for  our  lodging.” 

Then  answered  the  old  man,  “  We  must  separate.  But  be¬ 
fore  we  part,  I  will  explain  what  I  have  done.  The  ship  which 
I  injured  belongs  to  a  poor  family.  If  it  had  sailed,  it  would 
have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  pirates.  The  injury  I  did  can  be 
easily  repaired,  and  the  delay  will  save  the  vessel  for  those 
worthy  people  who  own  her.  The  child  I  killed  had  a  bad 
disposition,  and  it  would  have  corrupted  its  parents.  In  its 
place  God  will  give  them  pious  children.  The  house  which  I 

r3# 


*98  OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 

repaired  belongs  to  orphans,  whoss  father  was  a  man  of  sub¬ 
stance.  It  has  been  let  to  unworthy  people.  Under  the  wall 
is  hidden  a  treasure.  Had  the  tenants  mended  the  wall,  they 
would  have  found  and  kept  the  treasure.  Now  the  wall  will 
stand  till  its  legitimate  owners  come  into  the  house,  when  they 
will  find  the  treasure.  Thou  seest  I  have  not  acted  blindly 
and  foolishly.” 

Moses  asked  pardon  of  the  prophet,  and  he  returned  to  his 
people  in  the  wilderness.1 

The  same  story,  with  some  variation  in  the  incidents,  is 
related  in  the  Talmud. 

God,  seeing  Moses  uneasy,  called  him  to  the  summit  of  a 
mountain,  and  deigned  to  explain  to  him  how  He  governed 
the  world.  He  bade  the  prophet  look  upon  the  earth.  He 
saw  a  fountain  flowing  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain.  A  soldier 
went  to  it  to  drink.  A  young  man  came  next  to  the  fountain, 
and  finding  a  purse  of  gold,  which  the  soldier  had  left  there  by 
accident,  he  kept  it  and  went  his  way. 

The  soldier,  having  lost  his  purse,  returned  to  search  for  it, 
and  demanded  it  of  an  old  man  whom  he  found  seated  by 
the  spring.  The  old  man  protested  that  he  had  not  found  it, 
and  called  God  to  witness  the  truth  of  his  assertion.  But  the 
soldier  disbelieving  him,  drew  his  sword  upon  him  and  killed 
him. 

Moses  was  filled  with  horror.  But  God  said  to  him  :  “  Be 
not  surprised  at  this  event ;  this  old  man  had  murdered  the 
father  of  the  soldier ;  the  soldier  would  have  wasted  the  money 
in  riotous  living ;  in  the  hands  of  the  youth  it  will  serve  to 
nourish  his  aged  parents,  who  are  dying  of  poverty.8 

10.  the  mission  of  the  spies.  (Numb.  xiii.  xiv.) 

And  the  Lord  spake  with  Moses,  saying,  “  Send  thou  keen- 
sighted  men  men  who  may  explore  the  land  of  Canaan,  which  I 
will  give  to  the  children  of  Israel ;  one  man  for  each  tribe  of  their 
fathers  shaft  thou  send  from  the  presence  of  all  their  leaders.” 

And  Moses  sent  them  from  the  wilderness  of  Paran  ;  all  of 
them  acute  men,  who  had  been  appointed  heads  over  the  sons 
of  Israel.  And  Moses  said  to  them,  “  Go  up  on  this  side  by 

1  Weil,  pp.  176-81 ;  Tabari,  i.  c.  lxxvi. ;  Koran,  Sura  xviii. 

*  Voltaire  has  taken  this  legend  as  the  basis  of  his  story  of  “  Zaftig." 


MOSES. 


299 


the  south,  and  ascend  the  mountain,  and  survey  the  country, 
what  it  is,  and  the  people  who  dwell  in  it ;  whether  they  be 
strong  or  weak,  few  or  many ;  what  the  land  is  in  which  they 
dwell,  whether  good  or  bad ;  what  the  cities  they  inhabit, 
whether  they  live  in  towns  that  are  open  or  walled ;  and  the 
reputation  of  the  land,  whether  its  productions  are  rich  or 
poor,  and  the  trees  of  it  be  fruitful  or  not ;  and  do  valiantly, 
and  bring  back  some  of  the  fruit  of  the  land.” 

And  the  day  on  which  they  went  was  the  nineteenth  of  the 
month  Sivan,  about  the  days  of  the  first  grapes.  They  came 
to  the  stream  of  the  grapes  in  Eshkol,  and  cut  from  thence 
a  branch,  with  one  cluster  of  grapes,  and  carried  it  on  a  rod 
between  two  men  ;  and  also  of  the  pomegranates,  and  of  the 
figs;  and  the  wine  dropped  from  them  like  a  stream.1 

And  when  they  returned,  they  related,  “We  have  seen  the 
land  which  we  are  to  conquer  with  the  sword,  and  it  is  good 
and  fruitful.  The  strongest  camel  is  scarcely  able  to  carry  one 
bunch  of  grapes  ;  one  ear  of  corn  yields  enough  to  feed  a  whole 
family;  and  one  pomegranate  shell  could  contain  five  armed 
men.  But  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  and  their  cities  are  in 
keeping  with  the  productions  of  the  soil.  We  saw  men,  the 
smallest  of  whom  was  six  hundred  cubits  high.  They  were 
astonished  at  us  on  account  of  our  diminutive  stature,  and 
laughed  at  us.  Their  houses  are  also  in  proportion,  walled  up 
to  heaven,  so  that  an  eagle  could  hardly  soar  above  them.”  8 

When  the  spies  had  given  this  report,  the  Israelites  mur¬ 
mured,  and  said,  “  We  are  not  able  to  go  up  to  the  people,  for 
they  are  stronger  than  we.” 

And  the  spies  said,  “  The  country  is  a  land  that  killeth  its 
inhabitants  with  diseases  ;  and  all  the  people  who  are  in  it  are 
giants,  masters  of  evil  ways.  And  we  appeared  as  locusts  be¬ 
fore  them.” 

And  all  the  congregation  lifted  up  their  voices  and  wept  3* 
and  it  was  confirmed  that  that  day,  the  ninth  of  the  month 
Ab,  should  be  one  of  weeping  for  ever  to  that  people  ;  and  it 
has  ever  after  been  one  of  a  succession  of  calamities  in  the 
history  of  the  Jews. 

“  Would  that  we  had  died  in  the  land  of  Egypt,”  said  the 
people ;  “  would  that  we  had  died  in  the  wilderness.  Wh> 
has  the  Lord  brought  us  into  this  land,  to  fall  by  the  sword 


Targums  ii.  pp.  3 So,  381. 


*  Weil,  p.  175. 


3°° 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


of  the  Canaanites,  and  our  wives  and  little  ones  to  become  a 
prey  ?  ”  1 

Then  the  Lord  was  wroth  with  the  spies,  and  the  earth 
opened  her  mouth  and  swallowed  them  up,  saving  only  Joshua 
and  Caleb,  who  had  not  given  an  evil  report  of  the  land.'2 

The  account  of  the  Targum  of  Palestine  is  different.  The 
Targum  says  that  the  men  who  had  brought  an  evil  report  of 
the  land  died  on  the  seventh  day  of  the  month  Elul,  with 
worms  coming  from  their  navels,  and  with  worms  devouring 
their  tongues." 

The  Rabbis  relate  that  though  for  the  wickedness  of  men 
the  fruitfulness  of  the  Holy  Land  diminished,  yet  in  places  it 
remained  as  great  as  of  old.  “  The  Raf  Chiji,  son  of  Ada, 
was  the  teacher  of  the  children  of  the  Resch  Lakisch  ;  and  once 
he  was  absent  three  days,  and  the  children  were  without  in¬ 
struction.  When  he  returned,  the  Resch  Lakisch  asked  him 
why  he,  had  been  so  long  absent.  He  answered,  ‘  My  father 
sent  me  to  his  vine,  which  is  bound  to  a  tree,  and  I  gathered 
from  it,  the  first  day,  three  hundred  bunches  of  grapes,  which 
gave  as  much  juice  as  would  fill  two  hundred  and  eighty 
and  eight  egg-shells  (three  gerabhs).  Next  day  I  cut  three 
Hundred  bunches,  of  which  two  gave  one  gerabh.  The  third 
day  I  cut  three  hundred  bunches,  which  yielded  one  gerabh  of 
juice  ;  and  I  left  more  than  half  the  bunches  uncut.’  Then 
said  the  Resch  Lakrsch  to  him,  ‘  If  thou  hadst  been  more  dil¬ 
igent  in  the  education  of  my  children,  the  vine  would  have 
yielded  yet  more.’ 

.“Rami,  son  of  Ezechiel,  once  went  to  the  inhabitants  of 
Berak,  and  saw  goats  feeding  under  fche  fig-trees,  and  the  milk 
dowed  from  their  udders,  and  the  honey  dropped  from  the  figs, 
and  the  two  mingled  in  one  stream.  Then  he  said,  ‘  This  is 
the  land  promised  to  our  forefathers,  flowing  with  milk  and 
Honey.’ 

“  The  Rabbi  Jacob,  son  of  Dosethai,  said  that  from  Lud  to 
Ono  is  three  miles,  and  in  the  morning  twilight  I  started  on 
my  way,  and  I  was  over  ankles  in  honey  out  of  the  figs. 

“The  Resch  Lakisch  said  that  he  had  himself  seen  a  stream 
of  milk  and  honey  in  the  neighborhood  of  Zippori,  sixteen 
miles  long  and  the  same  breadth. 

“  The  Rabbi  Chelbo  and  Rabbi  Avera  and  Rabbi  Jose,  son 
of  Hannina,  once  came  to  a  place  where  they  were  offered  a 

*  Targums.  ii  p.  382.  1  Weil.  "  176.  ‘  Targums,  ii.  p.  38^. 


MOSES : 


301 

honeycomb  as  large  as  the  frying-pan  of  the  village  Heiro ; 
they  ate  a  portion,  they  gave  their  asses  a  portion,  and  they 
distributed  a  portion  to  any  one  who  would  take  it. 

“  Rabbi  Joshua,  son  of  Levi,  once  came  to  Gabla,  and  saw 
grape-bunches  in  a  vineyard,  as  big  as  calves,  hanging  between 
the  vines,  and  he  said,  ‘  The  calves  are  in  the  vineyard.’  But 
the  inhabitants  told  him  they  were  grapes.  Then  said  he,  ‘  O 
land,  land !  withdraw  thy  fruits.  Do  not  offer  to  these  heathen 
those  fruits  which  have  been  taken  from  us  on  account  of  our 
sins.’ 

“A  year  after,  Rabbi  Chija  passed  that  way,  and  he  saw 
the  bunches  like  goats.  So  he  said,  ‘  The  goats  are  in  the  vine¬ 
yard.’  But  the  inhabitants  said,  ‘  They  are  grape-bunches ; 
depart  from  us  and  do  not  unto  us  as  did  your  fellow  last 
vear.’  ” 1 


II.  OF  KORAH  AND  HIS  COMPANY.  (Numb,  xvi.) 

And  the  Lord  said  to  Moses,  “  Speak  to  the  sons  of  Israel, 
and  bid  them  make  fringes  not  of  threads,  nor  of  yarn,  nor  of 
fibre,  but  after  a  peculiar  fashion  shall  they  make  them.  They 
shall  cut  off  the  heads  of  the  filaments,  and  suspend  by  five 
ligatures,  four  in  the  midst  of  three,  upon  the  four  corners  of 
their  garments,  and  they  shall  put  upon  the  edge  of  their  gar 
ments  a  border  of  blue  (or  embroidery  of  hyacinth).”  2 

But  Korah,  son  of  Ezhar,  son  of  Kohath,  son  of  Levi,  with 
Dathan  and  Abiram,  the  sons  of  Eliab,  and  On,  the  son  of  Pe- 
leth,  sons  of  Reuben,  refused  to  wear  the  blue  border. 

Moses  had  said,  “  The  fringes  are  to  be  of  white,  with  one 
line  of  blue  ;  ”  but  Korah  said,  “  I  will  make  mine  altogether 
of  blue ;  ”  and  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  men  of  the  sons  of 
Israel,  who  had  been  leaders  of  the  congregation  at  the  time 
when  the  journeys  and  encampments  were  appointed,  sup¬ 
ported  Korah.* 

Korah  was  a  goldsmith,  and  Moses  greatly  honored  him, 
for  he  was  his  cousin,  and  the  handsomest  man  of  all  Israel. 
When  Moses  returned  from  the  mount,  he  bade  Korah  destroy 
the  calf;  but  the  fire  would  not  consume  it.  Then  Moses 
prayed  and  God  showed  him  the  philosopher’s  stone,  which  is 

1  Tract  Kethuvotk,  foL  in,  coL  a. 

•  Targums,  ii.  p.  391.  *  Targum  of  Palestine,  ii.  p.  390, 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


$o* 

a  plant  that  grows  in  great  abundance  by  the  shores  of  the 
Red  Sea,  but  none  knew  of  its  virtues  before.  Now,  this  plant 
turns  metals  into  gold,  and  also  if  a  twig  of  it  be  cast  into  gold, 
it  dissolves  it  away.  Moses  instructed  Korah  in  the  virtues  of 
this  herb.  Then  Korah  dissolved  the  calf  by  means  of  it,  but 
he  also  used  it  to  convert  base  metals  into  gold,  and  thus  he 
became  very  rich. 

Korah  had  great  quantities  of  this  herb,  and  he  made  vast 
stores  of  gold.  He  accumulated  treasures.  What  he  desired 
he  bought,  and  he  surrounded  himself  with  servants  clad  in 
cloth  of  gold.  He  built  brick  houses  with  brass  doors,  and 
filled  them  to  the  roof  with  gold,  and  he  made  his  servants  walk 
before  him  with  the  keys  of  his  treasure-houses  hung  round 
their  necks.  He  had  twenty  men  carrying  these  keys  ;  and 
still  he  increased  in  wealth,  so  he  placed  the  keys  on  camels ; 
and  when  he  still  built  more  treasuries  and  turned  more  sub¬ 
stance  into  gold,  he  increased  the  number  of  keys  to  such  an 
extent  that  he  had  sixty  camel  loads  of  them.  Moses  knew 
whence  Korah  derived  his  wealth,  but  the  rest  of  the  congrega¬ 
tion  of  Israel  knew  not. 

After  that,  Korah  did  that  which  was  wrong,  and  he  broke 
the  commandment  of  Moses,  and  would  have  no  blue  border 
on  his  servants’  tunics,  but  habited  them  in  scarlet,  and  mount¬ 
ed  them  on  red  horses.  Neither  did  he  confine  himself  to  the 
meats  which  Moses  permitted  as  clean. 

Then  God  ordered  Moses  to  ask  Korah  to  give  one  piece 
of  money  for  every  thousand  that  he  possessed.  But  Korah 
refused.  This  state  of  affairs  continued  ten  years.  When  his 
destiny  was  accomplished,  he  was  lifted  up  with  pride,  and  he 
resolved  to  humble  Moses  before  all  the  people. 

Now,  there  was  among  the  children  of  Israel  a  woman  of 
bad  character.  Korah  gave  her  large  bribes,  and  said  to  her, 
“  I  will  assemble  all  the  congregation,  and  bring  Moses  before 
them,  and  do  thou  bring  a  false  accusation  against  him.” 

The  woman  consented. 

Then  Korah  did  as  he  had  said  ;  and  when  all  the  assem¬ 
bly  of  Israel  was  gathered  together,  he  spake  against  Moses  all 
that  the  lying  witness  had  invented.  Then  he  brought  forth 
the  woman.  But  when  she  saw  all  the  elders  of  the  congrega 
tion  before  her,  she  feared,  and  she  said,  “  Korah  hath  suborned 
me  with  gold  to  speak  false  witness  against  Moses,  to  cause 
him  to  be  put  to  death.” 


MOSES. 


3°3 


And  when'  Korah  was  thus  convicted,  Moses  cried,  “  Get 
yourselves  up  and  separate  from  him.”  Then  all  the  people 
lied  away  from  him  on  either  side.  And  the  earth  opened  her 
lips  and  closed  them  on  Korah’s  feet  to  the  ankles. 

But  Korah  laughed,  and  said,  “  What  magic  is  this  ?  ” 
Moses  cried,  “  Earth,  seize  him  !  ” 

Then  the  earth  seized  him  to  his  knees. 

Korah  said,  “  O  Moses  !  ask  the  earth  to  release  me,  and 
1  will  do  all  thou  desirest  of  me.” 

But  Moses  was  very  wroth,  and  he  would  not  hearken,  but 
cried,  “  Earth  seize  him  !  ” 

Then  the  earth  seized  him  to  the  waist 
Korah  pleaded  for  his  life.  He  said,  “  I  will  do  all  thou 
desirest  of  me,  only  release  me  !  ” 

But  Moses  cried  again,  “  Earth,  seize  him  !  ” 

And  the  earth  gulped  him  down  as  far  as  his  breast,  and 
his  hands  were  under  the  earth. 

Once  more  he  cried,  “Moses!  spare  me  and  release  me, 
because  of  our  relationship  !  ” 

Moses  was  filled  with  bitterness,  and  he  bade  the  earth 
swallow  him ;  and  he  went  down  quick  into  the  pit,  and  was 
seen  no  more. 

Then,  when  Moses  was  returning  thanks  to  God,  the  Lord 
turned  His  face  away  from  him  and  said,  “  Thy  servant  asked 
of  thee  forgiveness  so  many  times,  and  thou  didst  not  forgive 
him.” 

Moses  answered,  “  O  Lord,  I  desired  that  he  should  ask 
pardon  of  Thee  and  not  of  me.” 

The  Lord  said,  “  If  he  had  cried  but  once  to  Me,  I  would 
have  forgiven  him.”  1 

The  earth  swallowed  Korah  and  seventy  men,  and  thqy  are 
retained  in  the  earth  along  with  all  his  treasures  till  the  Res¬ 
urrection  Day. 

Every  Thursday,  Korah,  Dathan  and  Abiram  go  before  the 
Messiah,  and  they  ask,  “  When  wilt  Thou  come  and  release  us 
from  our  prison  ?  When  will  the  end  of  these  wonders  be  ?” 

But  the  Messiah  answers  them,  “  Go  and  ask  the  Patri¬ 
archs  ;  ”  but  this  they  are  ashamed  to  do.* 

1  Tabari,  i.  c.  lxxvii. ;  Weil,  pp.  182,  183  ;  Abulfeda,  p.  33. 

51  Eisenmenger,  ii.  p.  305.  Possibly  the  passage  Zech.  ix.  1 1,  12,  may 
contain  an  allusion  to  this  tradition. 


3°  4 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


They  sit  in  the  third  mansion  of  Sheol,  not  in  any  lowest 
one ;  nor  are  they  there  tormented,  because  Korah  promised 
to  hear  and  obey  Moses,  as  he  was  being  engulfed.1 

The  Arabic  name  for  Korah  is  Karoun,  and  under  this  name 
he  has  returned  to  Rabbinic  legends,  and  the  identity  of 
Korah  and  Karoun  has  not  been  observed. 

The  Rabbis  relate  of  Karoun  that  he  is  an  evil  angel,  and 
that  Moses  dug  a  deep  pit  for  him  in  the  land  of  Gad,  and 
cast  him  into  it.  But  whenever  the  Israelites  sinned,  Karoun 
crept  out  of  his  subterranean  dwelling  and  plagued  them.'2 

This  is  a  curious  instance  of  allegorizing  upon  a  false  in¬ 
terpretation  of  a  name.  The  Karoun  of  the  Mussulmans  is 
clearly  identical  with  Korah,  but  Karoun  in  Hebrew  means 
Anger,  and  Karoun  was  supposed  to  be  the  Angel  of  the  Anger 
of  the  Lord,  and  the  story  of  his  emerging  from  his  pit  to 
punish  the  sinful  Israelites  is  simply  a  figurative  mode  of  saying 
that  the  anger  of  the  Lord  came  upon  them. 


12.  THE  WARS  OF  THE  ISRAELITES. 

The  children  of  Israel  had  many  foes  to  contend  with. 
Amongst  these  were  the  Amorites.  They  hid  in  caves  to  form 
an  ambuscade  against  the  people  of  God,  intending,  when  the 
Israelites  had  penetiated  into  a  defile  between  two  mountains, 
to  sally  forth  upon  them  and  to  overthrow  them.  But  they  did 
not  know  that  the  ark  went  before  Israel,  smoothing  the  rough 
places  and  levelling  the  mountains.8  Now,  when  the  ark  drew 
near  the  place  where  the  ambush  was,  the  mountains  fell  in 
upon  the  Amorites,  and  the  Israelites  passed  on,  and  knew  not 
that  they  had  been  delivered  from  a  great  danger.  But  there 
were  two  lepers  named  Eth  and  Hav,  who  followed  the  camp 
and  they  saw  the  blood  bubbling  out  from  under  the  mountain; 
and  thus  the  fate  of  the  Amorites  was  made  known.4 

The  Israelites  found  a  redoubtable  enemy  in  Og,  king  of 
Bashan,  who  was  one  of  the  giants  who  had  been  saved  from 
the  old  world  by  clambering  on  the  roof  of  the  ark  ;  but  his 
weight  had  so  depressed  the  vessel,  that  Noah  was  obliged  to 

1  Eisenmenger,  ii.  p.  305.  9  Pirke  R.  Eliezer,  c.  45. 

8  Perhaps  the  passage  Isai.  xl.  4  may  be  an  allusion  to  this  tradition. 

4  Talmud,  Tract.  Beracoth,  foL  54,  col.  2  ;  Targum  of  Palestine,  ii* 
PP-  4ii-i3- 


MOSES. 


305 

turn  out  the  hippopotamus  and  rhinoceros  to  preserve  the  ark 
4  from  foundering. 

Og  determined  to  destroy  Moses.  Moses  was  ten  cubits  in 
height,  and  when  Og  came  against  him,  he  took  a  hatchet  of 
ten  cubits’  length,  and  he  made  a  jump  into  the  air,  and  hit  Og 
on  the  ankle.  Og  tore  up  a  mountain,  and  put  it  on  his  head 
to  throw  it  upon  Moses ;  but  the  ants  ate  out  the  inside  of  the 
mountain,  and  it  sank  over  Og’s  head  to  his  neck,  and  he  could 
not  draw  his  head  out,  for  his  teeth  grew  into  tusks  and  thrust 
through  the  mountain,  and  he  was  blinded  and  caught  as  in  a 
trap.  Thus  Moses  was  able  to  slay  him.1 

Some  further  details  on  Og,  furnished  by  the  Rabbis,  will 
assist  the  reader  in  estimating  the  powers  of  Moses. 

At  one  meal,  Og  ate  a  thousand  oxen  and  as  many  wild 
roes,  and  his  drink  was  a  thousand  firkins  ;  one  drop  of  the 
sweat  from  his  brow  weighed  thirty-six  pounds.2  Of  his  size 
the  following  authentic  details  are  given.  The  Rabbi  Johan- 
an  said,  “  I  was  once  a  grave-digger,  and  I  ran  after  a  deer, 
and  went  in  at  one  end  of  a  shin-bone  of  a  dead  man,  and  I 
ran  for  three  miles  and  could  not  catch  the  deer  or  reach  the 
end  of  the  bone.  When  I  went  back,  I  inquired,  and  was  told 
that  this  was  the  shin-bone  of  Og,  king  of  Bashan.”  3  The  sole 
of  his  foot  was  forty  miles  long.  Once,  when  he  was  quarrel¬ 
ling  with  Abraham,  one  of  his  teeth  fell  out,  and  Abraham  made 
a  bed  out  of  the  tooth,  and  slept  in  it ;  but  some  say  he  made 
a  chair  out  of  it.4 

When  the  Israelites  came  to  Edrei  and  fought  against  it,  in 
the  night  Og  came  and  sat  down  on  the  wall,  and  his  feet 
reached  the  ground.  Next  morning  Moses  looked  out  and 
said,  “  I  do  not  understand  how  the  men  of  F drei  can  have 
built  a  second  wall  so  high  during  the  night” 

Then  it  was  revealed  to  him  that  what  he  had  taken  for  a 
wall  was  Og.5  Og  had  built  sixty  cities,  and  the  smallest  was 
sixty  miles  high.  These  cities  were  in  Argob.6 

The  Moabites  also  resisted  Israel,  and  they  were  encour¬ 
aged  by  Balaam  the  son  of  Beor. 

1  Talmud,  Tract.  Beracoth,  fol.  54,  coL  2  ;  Targum*,  ii.  p.  416  ;  Yt**- 
char,  p.  1296. 

*  Talmud,  Tract.  Sopherim,  fol.  42,  00L  i 

8  Ibid.,  Tract.  Nida,  fol.  24,  col.  2. 

4  Jalkut  Cadasch,  fol.  16,  col.  2.  *  Eisenmenger,  L  p. 

V  *  Talmud,  Tract.  Sopherim,  fol.  14.  col.  4. 


5©6 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


Balak,  king  of  Moab,  sent  to  Balaam  to  curse  Israel.  Then 
Balaam  rose  in  the  morning  and  made  ready  his  ass,  and  went 
with  the  princes  of  Moab.  The  Mussulman  account  is  that 
Balaam,  having  been  told  by  God  not  to  go,  resolved  to  obey, 
but  the  princes  of  Moab  bribed  his  wife,  and  she  gave  him  no 
peace  till  he  consented  to  go  to  Balak  with  his  messengers.1 
But  the  anger  of  the  Lord  was  kindled,  because  he  would  go 
to  curse  them,  and  the  angel  of  the  Lord  stood  in  the  way  to 
be  an  adversary  to  him.  But  he  sat  upon  his  ass,  and  his  two 
sons,  Jannes  and  Jambres,  were  with  him. 

And  the  ass  discerned  the  angel  of  the  Lord  standing  in  the 
way  with  a  drawn  sword  in  his  hand,  and  the  ass  turned  aside 
out  of  the  road  to  go  into  the  field  ;  and  Balaam  smote  the  ass. 
And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  stood  in  a  narrow  path  that  was  in 
the  midst  between  the  vineyards,  in  the  place  where  Jacob  and 
Laban  raised  the  mound,  the  pillars  on  this  side  and  the  ob¬ 
servatory  on  that  side,2  that  neither  should  pass  the  limit  to 
do  evil  to  the  other.  And  as  the  ass  discerned  the  angel  of 
the  I,ord,  and  thrust  herself  against  the  hedge,  and  bruised 
Balaam’s  foot  by  the  hedge,  he  smote  her  again.  Ten  things 
were  created  after  the  world  had  been  founded  at  the  coming 
in  of  the  Sabbath  between  sunset  and  sunrise, — the  manna,  the 
well,  the  rod  of  Moses,  the  diamond,  the  rainbow,  the  cloud  of 
glory,  the  mouth  of  the  earth,  the  writing  on  the  tables  of  the 
covenant,  the  demons,  and  the  speaking  ass. 

Then  the  Lord  opened  the  mouth  of  the  ass,  and  she  said 
to  Balaam,  “  What  have  I  done  to  thee,  that  thou  hast  smitten 
me  twice  ?  ” 

And  Balaam  said  to  the  ass,  “  Because  thou  hast  been  false 
to  me  ;  if  there  were  now  a  sword  in  my  hand,  -I  would  kill 
thee.” 

And  the  ass  said  to  Balaam,  “  Woe  to  thee,  wanting  in  un¬ 
derstanding  !  Behold  thou  hast  not  power  with  all  thy  skill 
to  curse  me,  an  unclean  beast,  which  am  to  die  in  this  world 
and  not  to  enter  the  world  to  come  ;  how  much  less  canst  thou 
curse  the  children  of  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  on  whose 
account  the  world  was  created.”  * 

Balaam  finding  that  he  could  not  curse  the  people,  and  that 
they  were  under  the  protection  of  the  Most  High,  saw  that  the 
only  way  to  ruin  them  was  by  leading  them  into  sin.  There¬ 
fore  he  advised  Balak,  and  the  king  appointed  the  daughter 

1  Tabaii,  i.  p.  398.  3  Gen.  xxxi.  51  *  Targums  ii.  pp.  41-9-21. 


MOSES. 


307 


of  the  Midianites  for  the  tavern-booths  at  Beth  Jeshimoth,  by 
the  snow  mountain,  where  they  sold  sweetmeats  cheaper  than 
their  price.  And  Israel  trafficked  with  them  for  their  sweet 
cakes ;  and  when  the  maidens  brought  out  the  image  of  Peor 
from  their  bundles,  the  Israelites  did  not  notice  it  to  take  it 
away,  and  becoming  accustomed  to  it  they  went  on  to  sacrifice 
to  it.1 

And  Moses  saw  one  of  the  sons  of  Israel  come  by,  hold¬ 
ing  a  Midianitess  by  the  hand,  and  Moses  rebuked  him. 
Then  said  the  man,  “  What  is  it  that  is  wrong  in  this  ? 
Didst  not  thou  thyself  take  to  wife  a  Midianitess,  the  daughter 
of  Jethro?” 

When  Moses  heard  this,  he  trembled  and  swooned  away. 
But  Phinehas  cried,  “Where  are  the  lions  of  the  tribe  of  Ju¬ 
dah  ?  ”  and  he  took  a  lance  in  his  hand,  and  slew  the  man  and 
the  woman. 

Twelve  miracles  were  wrought  for  Phinehas,  but  they  need 
not  be  repeated  here.2 

Then  all  the  Israelites  went  forth  against  the  Midianites 
and  defeated  them  ;  and  when  they  numbered  the  slain,  Ba¬ 
laam  and  his  sons  were  discovered  among  the  dead. 


13.  THE  DEATH  OF  AARON.  (Numb.  XX.  22-29.) 

Moses  was  full  of  grief  when  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to 
him  that  Aaron,  his  brother,  was  to  die.  That  night  he  had 
no  rest,  and  when  it  began  to  dawn  towards  morning,  h«  rose 
and  went  to  the  tent  of  Aaron. 

Aaron  was  much  surprised  to  see  his  brother  come  in  so 
early,  and  he  said,  “  Wherefore  art  thou  come  ?  ” 

Moses  answered,  “  All  night  long  have  I  been  troubled,  and 
have  had  no  sleep,  for  certain  things  in  the  Law  came  upon  me, 
and  they  seemed  to  me  to  be  heavy  and  unendurable ;  I  have 
come  to  thee  that  thou  shouldst  relieve  my  mind.”  So  they 
opened  the  book  together  and  read  from  the  first  word ;  and 
at  every  sentence  they  said,  “  That  is  holy,  and  great,  and 
righteous.” 

Soon  they  came  to  the  history  of  Adam  ;  and  Moses  stayed 
from  reading  when  he  arrived  at  the  Fall,  and  he  cried  bitterly, 
*  O  Adam,  thou  hast  brought  death  into  the  world  1  ” 

1  Ibid.,  PP-  434-3- 


1  Tfcrgiuai,  ii.  pp.  43*-$. 


30 8  OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 

Aaron  said,  “  Why  art  thou  so  troubled  thereat,  my  broth¬ 
er  ?  Is  not  death  the  way  to  Eden  ?  ” 

“  It  is  however  very  painful.  Think  also  that  both  thou 
and  I  must  some  day  die.  How  many  years  thinkest  thou  we 
shall  live?” 

Aaron. — “  Perhaps  twenty.” 

Moses. — “  Oh  no  !  not  so  many.” 

Aaron. — “  Then  fifteen.” 

Moses. — “  No,  my  brother,  not  so  many.” 

Aaron. — “  Then  ten  years.” 

Moses. — “  No,  not  so  many.” 

Aaron. — “Then  surely  it  must  be  five.” 

Moses. — “  I  say  again,  not  so  many.” 

Then  said  Aaron,  hesitating,  “  Is  it  then  one?” 

And  Moses  said,  “  Not  so  much.” 

Full  of  anxiety  and  alarm,  Aaron  kept  silence.  Then  said 
Moses  gently,  “  O  my  beloved !  would  it  not  be  good  to  say  of 
thee  as  it  was  said  of  Abraham,  that  he  was  gathered  to  his 
fathers  in  peace  ?  ”  Aaron  was  silent. 

Then  said  Moses,  “  If  God  were  to  say  that  thou  shouldst 
die  in  a  hundred  years,  what  wouldst  thou  say  ?  ” 

Aaron  said,  “  The  Lord  is  righteous  in  all  His  ways,  and 
holy  in  all  his  works.” 

Moses. — “  And  if  God  were  to  say  to  thee  that  thou  shouldst 
die  this  year,  what  wouldst  thou  answer  ?  ” 

Aaron. — “  The  Lord  is  righteous  in  all  His  ways,  and  holy 
in  all  his  works.” 

Moses. — “  And  if  He  were  to  call  thee  to-day,  what  wouldst 
thou  say  ?  ” 

Aaron. — “  The  Lord  is  righteous  in  all  His  ways,  and  holy 
in  all  His  works.” 

“Then,”  said  Moses,  “arise  and  follow  me.” 

At  that  same  hour  went  forth  Moses,  Aaron,  and  Eleazer,  his 
son  ;  they  ascended  into  Mount  Hor,  and  the  people  looked  on, 
nothing  doubting,  for  they  knew  not  what  was  to  take  place. 

Then  said  the  Most  High  to  His  angels,  “  Behold  the 
new  Isaac ;  he  follows  his  younger  brother,  who  leads  him 
to  death.” 

When  they  had  reached  the  summit  of  the  mountain,  there 
opened  before  them  a  cavern.  They  went  in  and  found  a 
death-bed  prepared  by  the  hands  of  the  angels.  Aaron  laid 
himself  down  upon  it  and  made  ready  for  death. 


MOSES. 


309 


Then  Moses  cried  out  in  grief,  Woe  is  me  !  ”  we  were 
two,  when  we  comforted  our  sister  in  her  death  ;  in  this,  thy 
last  hour,  I  am  with  thee  to  solace  thee  ;  when  I  die,  who  will 
comfort  me  ?  ” 

Then  a  voice  was  heard  from  heaven,  “Fear  not;  God 
himself  will  be  with  thee.” 

On  one  side  stood  Moses,  on  the  other  Eleazer,  and  they 
kissed  the  dying  man  on  the  brow,  and  took  from  off  him 
his  sacerdotal  vestments  to  clothe  Eleazer  his  son  with  them. 
They  took  off  one  portion  of  the  sacred  apparel,  and  they 
laid  that  on  Eleazer  ;  and  then  they  removed  another  portion, 
and  laid  that  on  Eleazer  ;  and  as  they  stripped  Aaron,  a  sil¬ 
very  veil  of  clouds  sank  over  him  like  a  pall  and  covered  him. 

Aaron  seemed  to  be  asleep. 

Then  Moses  said,  “  My  brother,  what  dost  thou  feel  ?  ” 

“  I  feel  nothing  but  the  cloud  that  envelops  me,"  an¬ 
swered  he. 

After  a  little  pause,  Moses  said  again,  “  My  brother,  what 
dost  thou  feel  ?  ” 

He  answered  feebly,  “  The  cloud  surrounds  me  and  be¬ 
reaves  me  of  all  joy.” 

And- the  soul  of  Aaron  was  parted  from  his  body.  And 
as  it  went  up  Moses  cried  once  more,  “  Alas,  my  brother, 
what  dost  thou  feel  ?  ” 

And  the  soul  replied,  “  I  feel  such  joy,  that  I  would  it  had 
come  to  me  sooner.” 

Then  cried  Moses,  “  Oh  thou  blessed,  peaceful  death ! 
Oh,  may  such  a  death  be  my  lot !  ” 

Moses  and  Eleazer  came  down  alone  from  the  mountain, 
and  the  people  wailed  because  Aaron  was  no  more.  But  the 
coffin  of  Aaron  rose,  borne  by  angels,  in  the  sight  of  the  whole 
congregation,  and  was  carried  into  heaven,  whilst  the  angels 
sang:  “The  priest's  lips  have  kept  knowledge,  have  spoken 
truth  !  ” 1 

The  Mussulman  story  is  not  quite  the  same. 

One  version  is  that  both  Moses  and  Aaron  ascended  Hor, 
knowing  that  one  of  them  was  to  die.  but  uncertain  which, 
and  they  found  a  cave,  and  a  sarcophagus  therein  with  the 
inscription  on  it,  “  I  am  for  him  whom  I  fit.” 

Moses  tried  to  lie  down  in  it*,  but  his  feet  hung  out ;  Aaron 
next  entered  it,  lay  down  and  it  fitted  him  exactly. 

1  Jalkut,  fol.  240  ;  Rabboth,  fol.  275,  col.  1 ;  Midrash,  fol.  2S5. 


$10 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


Then  Gabriel  led  Moses  and  the  sons  of  Aaron  out  of  the 
cave,  and  when  they  were  again  admitted  Aaron  was  dead.1 

Another  version  is  this  :  God  announced  to  Moses  that 
he  would  call  Aaron  to  Himself.  Then  Moses  took  his 
brother  from  the  camp,  and  they  went  into  the  desert,  till  they 
came  to  a  tree.  When  Aaron  saw  the  shadow,  he  said,  “  O 
my  brother,  whose  tree  is  this  ?  ” 

Moses  said,  “God  alone  knows.” 

Then  spake  Aaron,  “  I  am  weary,  and  the  shadow  is  cool 
suffer  me  to  repose  a  little  while  under  the  tree.” 

Moses  said,  “  Lie  down  my  brother ;  and  may  thy  rest  be 
sweet.” 

Aaron  lay  down,  and  Moses  sat  by  him  till  he  died. 

Then  suddenly  the  tree,  the  shadow,  and  Aaron  vanished  ; 
and  Moses  returned  alone  to  the  Israelites.  They  were  angry 
with  him,  that  he  had  not  brought  back  Aaron,  and  they  took 
up  stones  against  him  But  Moses  cried  to  the  Lord,  and  the 
Lord  showed  them  Aaron  on  a  bed,  and  he  was  dead  ;  and  the 
people  looked,  and  wondered,  and  wept :  then  said  a  voice 
from  heaven,  “  God  hath  taken  him.”  The  people  bewailed 
him  many  days.* 

14.  THE  DEATH  OF  MOSES. 

When  the  time  came  for  Moses  to  die,  the  Lord  called  Ga¬ 
briel  to  Him,  and  said,  “Go  and  bring  the  soul  of  My  servant 
Moses  to  Paradise.” 

The  angel  Gabriel  answered  in  astonishment,  “  Lord,  Lord, 
how  can  I  venture  to  give  death  to  that  man,  the  like  of  whom 
all  generations  of  men  have  not  seen  ?  ” 

Then  the  Most  High  called  to  Him  Michael,  and  said, 
“Go  and  bring  the  soul  of  My  servant  Moses  to  Paradise.” 

The  angel  Michael  answered  in  fear,  “  Lord,  Lord,  I  was 
h;  s  instructor  in  heavenly  lore !  How  can  I  bear  death  to  my 
pupil  ?  ” 

Then  the  Most  High  called  to  Him  Sammael,  and  said,  “  Go 
and  bring  the  soul  of  My  servant  Moses  to  Paradise.” 

The  angel  Sammael  flushed  red  with  joy.  He  clothed  him¬ 
self  in  anger,  and  grasped  his  sword,  and  rushed  down  upon 
the  holy  one.  But  he  found  him  writing  the  incommunicable 
name  of  God,  and  he  saw  his  face  shine  with  divine  light 

1  Weil,  p.  185 


9  Tab  ■tri.  i.  c.  lxxix.;  Abulfeda,  p.  £5 


MOSES. 


311 

'  Then  he  stood  irresolute,  and  his  sword  sank  with  the  point 
to  earth. 

“  What  seekest  thou  ?  ”  asked  Moses. 

“  I  am  sent  to  give  thee  death,”  answered  the  trembling 
angel.  “  All  mortals  must  submit  to  that.” 

“  But  not  I,”  said  Moses,  “  at  least  from  thee  ;  I,  conse¬ 
crated  from  my  mother’s  womb,  the  discloser  of  divine  mys¬ 
teries,  the  mouthpiece  of  God,  I  will  not  surrender  my  soul 
into  thy  hand.” 

Then  Sammael  flew  away. 

But  a  voice  fell  from  heaven.  “  Moses,  Moses,  thine  hour 
is  come  !  ”  ' 

“  My  Lord,”  answered  Moses,  “give  not  my  soul  into  the 
hands  of  the  Angel  of  Death.” 

Then  the  Bath-kol,  the  heavenly  voice  fell  again,  “  Be  com¬ 
forted.  I  myself  will  take  thy  soul,  and  I  myself  will  bury 
thee.”  1 

Then  Moses  went  home,  and  knocked  at  the  door.  His 
wife  Zipporah  opened  ;  and  when  she  saw  him  pale  and  trem¬ 
bling,  she  inquired  the  reason. 

Moses  answered,  “Give  God  the  praise.  My  hour  of 
death  is  come.” 

“  What !  must  a  man  who  has  spoken  with  God  die  like 
ordinary  mortals  ?  ” 

“  He  must.  Even  the  angels  Gabriel,  Michael,  and  Isra- 
fiel  must  die ;  God  alone  is  eternal,  and  dies  not.” 

Zipporah  wept  and  swooned  away. 

When  she  recovered  her  senses,  Moses  asked,  “Where 
are  my  children  ?  ” 

“  They  are  put  to  bed,  and  are  asleep.” 

“  Wake  them  up  ;  I  must  bid  them  farewell.” 

Zipporah  went  to  the  children’s  bed  and  cried,  “  Arise,  poor 
orphans !  arise  and  bid  your  father  farewell ;  for  this  is  his 
last  day  in  this  world,  and  the  first  in  the  world  beyond.” 

The  children  awoke  in  terror,  and  cried,  “  Alas  !  who  will 
pity  us  when  we  are  fatherless  ?  who  will  stand  protector  on 
our  threshold  ?  ” 

Moses  was  so  moved  that  he  wept.  Then  God  said  to  him, 
“  What  mean  these  tears  ?  Fearest  thou  death  or  dost  thou 
part  reluctantly  with  this  world  ?  ” 

1  Rabboth,  fob  302  b  ;  Devarim  Rabba,  fol.  246,  cob  1. 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


3** 

“  I  fear  not  death,  nor  do  I  part  reluctantly  with  this  world  ; 
but  I  lament  these  children,  who  have  lost  their  grandfather 
Jethro  and  their  uncle  Aaron,  and  who  now  must  lose  their 
father.” 

“  In  whom  then  did  thy  mother  confide,  when  she  c.ast  thee 
in  the  bulrush  ark  into  the  water  ?  ” 

“  In  Thee,  O  Lord.” 

“  Who  gave  thee  power  before  Pharaoh  ?  who  strengthened 
thee  with  thy  staff  to  divide  the  sea  ?  ” 

“  Thou,  O  Lord.” 

“  Who  led  thee  through  the  wilderness,  and  gave  thee  bread 
from  heaven,  and  opened  to  thee  the  rock  of  flint  ?  ” 

“  Thou,  O  Lord.” 

“  Then  canst  thou  not  trust  thy  orphans  to  Me,  wrho  am  a 
father  to  the  fatherless  ?  But  go,  take  thy  staff,  and  extend  it 
once  more  over  the  sea,  and  thou  shalt  have  a  sign  to  strength¬ 
en  thy  wavering  faith.” 

Moses  obeyed.  He  took  the  rod  of  God  in  his  hand,  and 
he  went  down  to  the  sea-beach,  and  he  lifted  the  rod  over  the 
water.  Then  the  sea  divided,  and  he  saw  in  the  midst  a  black 
rock.  And  he  went  forward  into  the  sea  till  he  reached  the 
rock,  and  then  a  voice  said  to  him,  “  Smite  with  thy  staff !  ” 
And  he  smote,  and  the  rock  clave  asunder,  and  he  saw  at  its 
foundations  a  little  cavity,  and  in  the  cavity  was  a  worm  with  a 
green  leaf  in  its  mouth.  The  worm  lifted  up  its  voice  and 
cried  thrice,  “  Praise  be  God,  who  doth  not  forget  me,  though 
I,  a  little  worm,  lie  in  loneliness  here  !  Praised  be  God,  who 
hath  nourished  and  cherished  even  me  !  ” 

When  the  worm  was  silent,  God  said  to  Moses  :  “  Thou 
seest  that  I  do  not  fail  to  consider  and  provide  for  a  little  worm 
in  a  rock  of  which  men  know  not,  far  in  the  depths  of  the  sea ; 
and  shall  I  forget  thy  children,  who  know  Me  ?  ” 

Moses  returned  with  shame  to  his  home,  comforted  his  wife 
and  children,  and  went  alone  to ‘the  mountain  where  he  was 
to  die.1 

And  when  he  had  gone  up  the  mountain,  he  met  three  men 
who  were  digging  a  grave  ;  and  he  asked  them,  “  For  whom  do 
you  dig  this  grave  ?  ” 

They  answered,  “  For  a  man  whom  God  will  call  to  be  with 
Him  in  Paradise.” 


1  Weil,  pp.  1 88,  189. 


MOSES. 


3*3 


Moses  asked  permission  to  lend  a  hand  to  dig  the  grave  of 
such  a  holy  man.  When  it  was  completed,  Moses  asked, 
“  Have  you  taken  the  measure  of  the  deceased  ?  ”  • 

“  No  ;  we  have  quite  forgotten  to  do  so.  But  he  was  of  thy 
size ;  lie  down  in  it,  and  God  will  reward  thee,  when  we  see  if 
it  be  likely  to  suit.” 

Moses  did  so.1 

The  three  men  were  the  three  angels  Michael,  Gabriel,  and 
Sagsagel.  The  angel  Michael,  had  begun  the  grave,  the  angel 
Gabriel  had  spread  the  white  napkin  for  the  head,  the  angel 
Sagsagel  that  for  the  feet. 

Then  the  angel  Michael  stood  on  one  side  of  Moses,  the  angel 
Gabriel  on  the  other  side,  the  angel  Sagsagel  at  the  feet,  and 
the  Majesty  of  God  appeared  above  his  head. 

And  the  Lord  said  to  Moses,  “  Close  thine  eyelids.”  He 
obeyed. 

Then  the  Lord  said,  “  Press  thy  hand  upon  thy  heart.” 
And  he  did  so. 

Then  God  said,  “  Place  thy  feet  in  order.”  He  did  so. 

Then  the  Lord  addressed  the  spirit  of  Moses,  and  said, 
“  Holy  soul,  my  daughter  !  For  a  hundred  and  twenty  years 
hast  thou  inhabited  this  undefiled  body  of  dust.  But  now 
thine  hour  is  come  ;  come  forth  and  mount  to  Paradise  !  ” 

But  the  soul  answered,  trembling  and  with  pain,  “  In  this 
pure  and  undefiled  body  have  I  spent  so  many  years,  that  I 
have  learned  to  love  it,  and  I  have  not  the  courage  to  desert 
it.” 

“  My  daughter,  come  forth  !  I  will  place  thee  in  the  highest 
heaven  beneath  the  Cherubim  and  Seraphim  who  bear  up  My 
eternal  throne.” 

Yet  the  soul  doubted  and  quaked. 

Then  God  bent  over  the  face  of  Moses,  and  kissed  him. 
And  the  soul  leaped  up  in  joy,  and  went  with  the  kiss  of  God 
to  Paradise. 

Then  a  sad  cloud  draped  the  heavens,  and  the  wind  wailed, 
“  Who  lives  now  on  earth  to  fight  against  sin  and  error  ?  ” 

And  a  voice  answered,  “  Such  a  prophet  never  arose  be¬ 
fore.” 

And  the  Earth  lamented,  “  I  have  lost  the  holy  one  I  ” 

And  Israel  lamented,  “  We  have  lost  the  Shepherd!  ” 


14 


1  Weil.  p.  iqo 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS 


3*4 


A  tid  the  angels  sang,  “  He  is  come  in  peace  to  the  arms 
of  God!  ”  1 

But  the  Mussulmans  narrate  the  last  scene  differently. 

They  say  that  the  Angel  of  Death  stood  over  Moses,  as  he 
lay  in  the  grave,  and  said,  “  Prophet  of  God,  I  must  take  thy 
soul.'” 

“  How  wilt  thou  take  it  ?  ” 

“  From  thy  mouth.” 

“  Thou  canst  not,  for  my  mouth  hath  spoken  with  God.” 

“  Then  from  thine  eyes.” 

“  Thou  canst  not,  for  my  eyes  have  seen  the  uncreated 
Light  of  God.” 

“  Then  from  thy  ears.” 

“Thou  canst  not,  for  my  ears  have  heard  the  Voice  of 
«  God.” 

“  Then  from  thy  hands.” 

“  Thou  canst  not,  for  my  hands  have  held  the  diamond 
tables,  on  which  was  engraven  the  Tora.” 

Then  God  bade  the  Angel  of  Death  obtain  from  Rhidwan, 
the  porter  of  Paradise,  an  apple  from  the  garden,  and  give  it 
to  Moses  to  smell. 

Moses  took  the  apple  out  of  the  hand  of  the  Angel  of 
Death,  and  smelt  at  it ;  and  as  he  smelt  the-eat,  the  angel 
drew  his  soul  forth  at  his  nostrils. 

None  know  where  is  the  grave  of  Moses,  save  Gabriel, 
Michael,  Israfiel,  and  Azrael,  for  they  buried  hi»  and  defend 
his  grave  to  the  Judgment  Day.* 

By  Nebo’s  lonely  mountain, 

On  this  side  Jordan’s  wave. 

In  a  vale  in  the  land  of  Moab 
There  lies  a  lonely  grave. 

And  no  man  knows  that  sepulchre. 

And  no  man  saw  it  e’er. 

For  the  angels  of  God  upturned  the  sod 
And  laid  the  dead  man  there. 

That  wras  the  grandest  funeral 
That  ever  passed  on  earth  ; 

But  no  man  heard  the  trampling, 

Or  saw  the  train  go  forth — 

Noiselessly  as  the  daylight 

Comes  back  when  night  is  done. 

And  the  crimson  streak  on  Oceana  check 
Grows  into  the  great  sun  ; 


1  Rabboth,  foL  30a  b. 


*  Well  vp.  *  'jO.  1*1. 


JOSHUA. 


m 


Noiselessly  as  the  spring-time 
Her  crown  of  verdure  weaves. 

And  all  the  trees  on  all  the  hills 
Open  their  thousand  leaves  ; 

So  without  sound  of  music, 

Or  voice  of  them  that  wept, 

Silently  down  from  the  mountain’s  crov* 

The  great  procession  swept. 

*  *  *  ♦ 

And  had  he  not  high  honor — 

The  hill- side  for  a  pall, 

To  lie  in  state,  while  angels  wait 
With  stars  for  tapers  tall  ; 

And  the  dark  rock-pines,  like  tossing  plumes. 

Over  his  bier  to  wave, 

And  God’s  own  hand  in  that  lonely  land 
To  lay  him  in  the  grave?  1 

Once  when  the  Persian  Empire  was  at  the  summit  of  its 
power,  an  attempt  was  made  to  discover  the  body  of  Moses. 
A  countless  host  of  Persian  soldiers  was  sent  to  search  Mount 
Nebo.  When  they  had  reached  the  top  of  the  mountain,  they 
saw  the  sepulchre  of  Moses  distinctly  at  the  bottom.  They 
hastened  to  reach  the  valley,  and  then  they  clearly  distin¬ 
guished  the  tomb  of  Moses  at  the  summit.  Thus,  whenever 
they  were  at  the  top,  they  saw  it  at  the  foot ;  and  when  they 
were  at  the  foot,  it  appeared  at  the  top  ;  so  they  were  forced 
to  abandon  the  prosecution  of  their  search.' 

The  incident  of  the  contention  of  Michael  with  Satan  for 
the  body  of  Moses  mentioned  by  S.  Jude  is  contained  in  the 
apocryphal  “  Assumption  of  Moses/’  now  lost,  but  which  has 
oeen  quoted  by  Origen  and  other  Fathers. 


XXXIII. 

JOSHUA. 

Hitherto  Israel  had  required  a  lawgiver,  and  they  had  been 
given  one  in  Moses  ;  now  they  needed  a  general,  and  they  were 
provided  with  one  in  Joshua. 

After  the  death  of  Moses  and  his  brother  Aaron,  the  children 
of  Israel  remained  seven  years  in  the  wilderness,  till  the  forty 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS 


316 

years  were  acomplished.  Then  God  conferred  on  Joshua  the 
function  of  prophet,  and  ordered  him  to  lead  the  chosen  people 
out  of  the  desert  and  to  attack  the  three  cities  of  the  giants. 

Joshua  was  of  the  tribe  of  Joseph.  He  was  the  son  of  Nun, 
who  was  the  son  of  Ephraim,  who  was  the  son  of  Joseph  ;  and 
his  mother  was  Miriam,  the  sister  of  Moses  and  Aaron.1 

Before  Joshua  led  the  people  of  the  Lord  to  the  conquest 
of  the  Holy  Land,  Joshua  sent  three  deputations  into  Canaan  \ 
of  these  the  first  proclaimed,  “  Let  any  one  who  will  escape 
death,  leave  the  country.” 

Then  came  the  second  deputation,  and  declared,  “  Let  such 
people  as  will  make  an  alliance  with  us,  do  so,  and  we  will  re¬ 
ceive  them.” 

Then  came  the  third  deputation,  and  cried,  “  Let  those  who 
persist  in  desiring  war  prepare  for  it.” 

The  result  of  these  deputations  was  that  one  nation  desert¬ 
ed  the  country  and  settled  in  Africa,  and  that  another  nation 
made  terms  with  Israel.  But  thirty-one  princes  made  ready  for 
war.2 

Joshua  marched  with  his  army  against  Jericho,  took  the  city, 
and  slew  all  the  men  therein ;  they  were  giants,  and  it  took  a 
hundred  men  to  cut  off  the  head  of  each  giant. 

After  the  capture  of  Jericho,  Joshua  went  against  Ai,  which 
is  beside  Beth-aven,  on  the  east  side  of  Bethel.  And  as  the 
people  went  up,  the  men  of  Ai  came  forth,  and  routed  them, 
and  they  fled.3 

Then  Joshua  rent  his  clothes,  and  fell  on  his  face  to  the 
earth  before  the  ark  of  the  Lord,  until  eventide,  he  and  the  el¬ 
ders  of  Israel,  and  put  dust  on  their  heads. 

And  the  Lord  said  to  Joshua,  “Get  thee  up.  I  am  wroth 
with  the  people,  for  there  is  amongst  them  a  sin  which  is  not 
put  away,  and  till  that  accursed  thing  is  cast  out,  victory  shall 
not  attend  their  arms.” 

Now  Joshua  had  ordered  all  the  plunder  of  Jericho  to  be 
burnt  with  fire  ;  but  although  it  was  heaped  up,  the  fire  would 
not  consume  it.  Then  he  knew  that  the  pile  could  not  be  com¬ 
plete,  for  the  flames  danced  up,  but  would  consume  nothing, 
as  though  they  waited  for  the  entirety  of  their  prey. 

So  Joshua  made  inquisition  ;  and  it  was  found  that  Achan 

1  Tabari,  i.  p.  396.  *  Talmud  of  Jerusalem  ;  Tract  Terumoth. 

*  Josh.  vii.  1-5. 


JOSHUA.  317 

(Adjezan  in  Arabic)  had  concealed  a  portion  of  the  booty, 
which  he  desired  to  appropriate  to  his  own  use. 

Then  the  booty  taken  by  Achan  was  added  to  the  heap,  and 
instantly  the  flames  roared  up,  and  devoured  the  whole  of  the 
spoil.1 

And  when  Ai  was  taken,  Joshua  said:  “Enter  into  this 
town  ;  for  God  has  taken  it  from  the  giants,  and  has  given  it  to 
you  to  be  your  inheritance.  But  when  you  pass  through  the 
gates,  prostrate  yourselves,  with  your  heads  in  the  dust,  and 
adore  God,  saying,  Hittaton,  hittaton,  which  is  by  interpreta¬ 
tion,  Pardon  our  sins.” 

Some  of  those  who  entered  Ai  obeyed  the  voice  of  Joshua, 
and  God  gave  them  a  possession  in  that  city,  and  their  poster¬ 
ity  retain  it  to  this  day. 

But  there  were  some  ungodly  men  who  disobeyed  the  voice 
of  Joshua,  and  when  they  passed  through  the  gates,  they  did 
not  prostrate  themselves,  but  they  raised  their  heads  to  heaven, 
and  instead  of  saying  “  hittaton ,”  as  commanded,  they  said 
“  hintaton ,”  asking  for  corn. 

Then  the  wrath  of  God  was  kindled  against  these  men,  and 
fire  fell  from  heaven,  and  consumed  all  that  had  said  hintaton 
in  place  of  hittaton? 

Near  Ai  there  were  mountains,  in  which  reigned  two  kings, 
Kuma  and  Djion  (Sihon).  These  Amorites  were  wealthy. 
When  Joshua  attacked  these  kings,  they  asked  to  make  a 
league  with  the  people  of  Israel ;  and  they  were  accepted,  on 
condition  that  they  believed  in  the  religion  of  Moses. 

Another  of  these  mountain  kingdoms  was  governed  by  a 
king  called  Barak  (Adoni-bezek).  He  also  sought  by  submis¬ 
sion  to  escape  ruin,  and  Joshua  accepted  him  on  the  same 
terms  as  Kuma  and  Djion. 

To  the  west  were  five  cities,  whose  inhabitants  were  also 
Amorites.  The  kings  of  these  cities  made  war  on  Joshua. 
Joshua  routed  them,  and  these  five  kings  took  refuge  in  a  cave. 
Joshua  ordered  the  cave  to  be  closed  with  a  stone,  whilst  he 
pursued  the  routed  army.  Then  God  sent  hail  from  heaven, 
and  each  hailstone  struck  down  and  killed  a  man.3 

Oh  that  day  Joshua  cried  to  the  Lord,  for  the  sun  hasted  to 
go  down,  and  it  was  a  Friday,  and  he  feared  that  he  should  not 
have  utterly  discomfited  the  host  before  the  Sabbath  came  in. 

1  Tabari,  i.  p.  402. 

*  Koran,  Sura  ii.  v.  55,  56. 


Tabari,  p.  404. 


jl3  OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 

Then  the  Lord  lengthened  the  day  one  hour,  so  as  to  enable 
him  to  complete  his  victory.1 

After  the  battle,  it  was  announced  to  him  that  Barak  and  the 
other  kings  who  had  made  submission  to  him  had  taken 
advantage  of  the  rising  of  the  kings  of  the  five  cities  to  re¬ 
nounce  their  allegiance,  and  to  return  to  the  worship  of  false 
gods.  Therefore  Joshua  prayed,  “  O  Lord !  because  they 
have  become  unfaithful,  take  from  them  their  riches,  and  make 
them  poor,  that  they  may  become  bondsmen  ;  and  that  theii 
king  may  fall  into  misery  !  ” 

Joshua  was  sick  and  unable  to  march  against  them.  He 
was  aged  a  hundred  and  twenty-eight  years.  He  was  a  hundred 
years  old  when  Moses  died,  and  he  governed  Israel  twenty- 
eight  years.2 

For  the  benefit  of  coin- collectors,  the  following  information 
is  inserted.  “  On  the  coins  struck  by  Abraham  are  figured, 
on  the  obverse,  an  old  man  and  an  ass ;  on  the  reverse,  a  boy 
and  a  girl.  On  the  coins  of  Joshua  are,  on  one  side  a  bull,  on 
the  other  a  unicorn.  On  those  of  David,  on  one  side  a  staff 
and  wallet,  on  the  other  a  tower.  On  those  of  Mordecai,  on 
the  obverse,  sackcloth  and  ashes;  and  on  the  reverse  a  crown.”2 

After  Joshua,  Caleb,  the  son  of  Jephunneh,  and  Othniel, 
the  son  of  Kenaz,4  Caleb’s  brother,  governed  Israel.  They 
collected  the  people,  and  marched  against  Barak  (Adoni-bezek)6 
and  his  people  who  had  apostatized,  and  attacked  them,  and 
slew  great  numbers  of  them. 

They  took  the  king  and  cut  off  his  thumbs.  This  Barak 
had,  during  his  reign,  treated  seventy  kings  in  like  fashion,  so 
that  they  were  unable  to  pick  up  any  thing  off  the  ground. 
And  when  Barak  was  feasting,  these  kings  were  brought  before 
him.  Then  he  cast  bread  among  them,  but  they  were  unable 
to  pick  it  up,  having  no  thumbs,  and  they  were  obliged  to 
stoop  to  the  ground,  and  take  it  in  their  mouths  like  dogs ;  and 
this  caused  huge  merriment  to  the  king.' 

1  Tabari,  p.  401.  *  Ibid.,  p.  404.  *  Berescheth  Rabba. 

4  The  Mussulmans  say  Khasqll  or  EsechieL  •  Judges  i.  4. 

4  Tabari,  i.  p.  404. 


SAMUEL. 


319 


XXXIV 

THE  JUDGES. 

If  Joshua,  the  first  of  the  Judges,  has,  to  a  great  extent, 
escaped  the  hands  of  legend  manufacturers,  the  same  may 
be  said  of  his  successors,  Phinehas,  Othniel,  Ehud,  Deborah 
and  Earak,  Gibeon,  Abimelech,  Tola,  Jair,  Jephthah,  Ibzan, 
Elon,  and  Abdon.  Even  Samson  has  not  been  surrounded 
by  such  a  multitude  of  traditions  as  might  have  been  expected. 

The  Mussulmans  have  little  to  say  of  him,  and  the  Jewish 
legends  are  not  numerous. 

The  Rabbi  Samuel,  son  of  Nahaman,  said  that  Samson  once 
took  two  mountains,  one  in  each  hand,  and  knocked  them 
together,  as  a  man  will  strike  together  two  pebbles.  The 
Rabbi  Jehudasaid  that  when  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  rested  on 
him  he  strode  in  one  stiide  from  Zorah  to  Eshtaol.  The  Rabbi 
Nahaman  added  that  his  hair  stood  up,  and  one  hair  tinkled 
against  another,  so  that  the  sound  could  be  heard,  like  that  of 
bells,  from  Zorah  to  Eshtaol.' 

Abulfaraj  says  that  Phinehas,  the  son  of  Eleazer,  the  son 
of  Aaron,  after  the  death  of  Joshua,  was  commanded  by  an 
angel  to  put  the  manna,  the  rods,  the  tables  of  the  covenant, 
and  the  five  books  of  Moses  in  a  brazen  urn,  seal  it  with  lead, 
and  conceal  it  in  a  cave,  as  the  Israelites  were  too  wicked  to 
be  entrusted  with  such  a  treasure.1 


XXXV. 

SAMUEL. 

Gjalout  (Goliath)  was  king  of  the  Philistines.  He  was  of 
the  race  of  the  ancient  giants,  the  Adites  and  the  Themudites, 
who  were  from  fifty  to  a  hundred  cubits  in  height. 

The  children  of  Israel  were  grievously  oppressed  by  him, 
and  they  besought  God  to  send  them  a  prophet  who  would 
reinstruct  them  in  the  law  of  Moses,  and  in  the  true  religion. 
For  thirty  years  they  besought  God,  but  no  prophet  was  given 
to  them.  In  the  meanwhile,  tire  Philistines  oppressed  them 

1  Eisenmenger,  i.  p.  395.  s  Hist.  Dynast,  p.  24. 


320 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


more  and  more,  and  whenever  the  Israelites  rose  against  them 
they  defeated  the  Israelites  with  great  slaughter. 

There  died  a  man  of  the  tribe  of  Levi,  Rayyan  (Elkanah), 
son  of  Elkama,  who  was  descended  from  Aaron  the  brother  of 
Moses.  The  elders  of  Israel  hearing  that  he  had  died,  leaving 
his  wife  pregnant,  went  to  her  and  surrounded  her  with  the 
greatest  care  and  comforts. 

There  was  amongst  them  a  wise  man  named  Hil  (Eli)  who 
was  high-priest ;  to  him  they  confided  the  care  of  the  wid¬ 
ow.  In  time  she  bore  a  son,  who  was  named  Ischmawil 
(Samuel). 

Eli  brought  up  the  child  Samuel  in  the  temple,  to  the  age 
of  seven  years,  and  he  taught  him  the  Pentateuch  and  the 
religion  of  Moses. 

Samuel  regarded  Eli  as  his  father,  because  he  had  been 
brought  up  by  him,  and  he  loved  and  reverenced  him  greatly. 

One  night  when  he  was  asleep,  Gabriel  came  into  the  room 
and  made  a  noise,  so  that  Samuel  awoke. 

He  saw  no  one,  so  he  called  to  Eli,  “  Master  1  didst  thou 
summon  me  ?  ” 

Eli  replied,  “No,  my  son,  I  did  not  summon  thee.” 

Next  night  the  same  occurred ;  so  also  the  third  night. 

Then  Eli  thought  that  God  wished  to  give  to  Samuel  the 
gift  of  prophecy  ;  therefore  he  said,  “  My  son,  if  thou  art 
called  again  in  the  night,  reply,  Here  am  I ;  what  wouldest 
Thou  ?  I  am  in  Thy  hands.” 

Samuel  did  so.  Then  Gabriel  appeared  to  him  and  cum* 
municated  to  him  the  message  of  God. 

Samuel  told  Eli  that  the  Lord  had  given  him  the  gift  of 
prophecy,  by  the  mouth  of  His  messenger  Gabriel. 

Then  Eli  was  rejoiced,  and  he  announced  the  glad  tidings 
to  all  Israel. 

Eli  had  two  sons  whom  he  had  instructed  in  the  art  of  of¬ 
fering  sacrifice  according  to  the  law  of  Moses,  but  he  had 
taught  them  nothing  else.  Eli  himself  moreover  neglected  to 
sacrifice,  and  he  allowed  his  sons  to  live  after  their  lusts,  unre¬ 
strained  by  his  paternal  and  priestly  rebuke. 

Therefore  God  spake  to  Samuel  that  He  would  punish  Eli 
and  his  sons ;  but  Samuel  feared  to  show  it  to  the  high  priest 

Then  said  Eli  to  him,  “  Has  God  given  thee  a  message  to 
me  ?  ” 

And  Samuel  answered,  “  God  has  said,  Why  hast  thou  ne- 


SAMUEL, 


321 


glected  to  offer  sacrifice,  so  that  thy  sons  add  thereto  or  detract 
therefrom  ?  And  why  hast  thou  not  constrained  them  ?  Be¬ 
cause  of  this  sin,  I  shall  deliver  thee  into  the  hands  of  an  ene¬ 
my,  who  shall  slay  thy  sons,  and  take  the  ark,  and  cause  thee 
to  perish  also.”  1 

Then  Gjalout  came,  and  made  war  against  the  children  of 
Israel,  and  there  was  a  great  battle,  and  Hophni  and  Phinehas, 
the  sons  of  Eli,  were  slain,  and  the  ark  was  taken  ;  and  Kli  fell 
backward  from  off  his  seat  when  he  heard  the  news,  and  his 
neck  brake,  and  he  died. 

In  the  ark,  that  now  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Philistines, 
were  preserved  the  tables  of  the  Law,  which  God  had  given  to 
Moses,  and  a  basin  hi  which  the  angels  washed  and  purified 
the  hearts  of  the  prophets,  and  the  mitre  and  breastplate  and 
potificial  robes  of  Aaron. 

The  Israelites  had  been  accustomed,  in  times  of  peril,  to 
produce  the  ark,  and  it  had  delivered  them  from  evil  by  virtue 
of  the  sacred  relics  it  contained.  As  for  the  Shekinah  which 
rested  upon  it,  and  from  which  the  ark  took  its  name  of  Tabut- 
Shekinah,  the  Mussulman  authors  assure  us  it  had  the  form  of 
a  leopard,  which,  whenever  the  ark  was  carried  against  the  ene¬ 
mies  of  God’s  people,  rose  on  its  legs,  and  uttered  so  potent  a 
roar,  that  the  foes  of  Israel  fell  to  the  ground.  These  authors, 
however,  derive  this  fable  from  Rabbinic  writers.3 

The  king  of  the  Philistines,  having  obtained  possession  of 
the  ark,  placed  it  in  a  draught-house,  purposing  thereby  to 
express  his  hatred  of  the  Jews,  and  his  contempt  for  that 
which  they  regarded  as  most  sacred. 

But  a  terrible  disease  broke  out  among  the  Philistines,  and 
the  ark  was  sent  from  Gaza  to  another  city.  There  the  plague 
appeared  immediately, and  the  Philistines  were  at  length  obliged 
to  return  the  a*k  to  the  Israelites.  / 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Israelites,  in  consternation  at  the 
oss  of  their  ark,  gathered  about  Samuel,  and  besought  him  to 
consecrate  a  king  for  them,  who  might  go  forth  to  battle  before 
them,  and  recover  for  them  the  ark. 

Then  Samuel  said  “  If  I  consecrate  a  king  for  you,  will 
you  not  desert  him,  and  refuse  to  obey  him?” 

But  they  all  protested,  “  We  will  follow  him  wherever  he 
leads,  and  we  will  obey  all  his  commands.”  * 

1  Tabari,  i.  c.  Ixxxvii.  s  DTIerbelot,  BibL  Orient.,  S.  v.  Aschroosll 
3  Koran,  Sura  ii.  v.  247  248 

*4* 


3*2 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


Then  Schareh,  who  was  surnamed  Thalout  (Saul),  on  ac¬ 
count  of  the  greatness  of  his  stature,  was  chosen  by  Samuel  to 
be  their  king.  He  was  poor,  and  by  trade  a  water-carrier,  and 
his  ancestors  had  all  been  water-carriers. 

Now  the  father  of  Saul  had  lost  an  ass,  which  had  escaped 
into  the  desert  Saul  went  after  it. 

Then  Samuel  came  to  meet  him,  and  said  to  him :  “  Thou 
shalt  reign  as  king  over  the  people  of  Israel.'’ 

Saul  replied  :  “  O  prophet  of  God  1  thou  knowest  that  my 
tribe  is  the  least  among  the  tribes,  and  that  I  am  the  poorest 
among  the  members  of  my  tribe. 

Samuel  said :  “  Nevertheless,  God  has  ordered  that  so  it 
should  be.” 

Then  he  poured  on  his  head  the  sacred  oil  which  had  been 
brought  to  Samuel  out  of  heaven  by  Gabriel. 

But  some  say  that  this  oil  belonged  to  Joseph  the  son  of 
Jacob,  and  it  was  preserved  by  the  prophets.  When  this  oil 
was  poured  on  Saul’s  head  and  face,  it  made  his  skin  brilliant 
and  pure. 

Now  the  prophets  all  came  out  of  the  tribe  of  Levi,  and 
the  tribe  of  Benjamin  was  despised  greatly  by  the  Israelites. 
And  when  they  heard  that  their  king  was  from  that  tribe, 
and  was  a  water-carrier,  they  were  angry,  and  exclaimed, 
“  Why  should  he  reign  over  us  ?  We  are  as  worthy  to  reign 
as  he  !  ”  1 

Samuel  answered,  “  God  gives  power  to  whom  He  wills.” 

The  Israelites  said,  “  Show  us  a  sign.” 

Samuel  brought  the  sacred  oil  forth,  and  it  boiled  in  the 
presence  of  Saul.8 

But  that  did  not  suffice  them.  They  then  asked  another 
sign;  and  Samuel  said,  “The  ark  shall  return.” 

And  they  lifted  their  eyes,  and  lo!  the  ark  was  coming  to 
them  attached  to  the  tails  of  two  cows,  and  angels  guided  the 
cows.3 

Then  the  children  of  Israel  doubted  no  longer,  but  accepted 
Saul  as  their  king. 

Then  said  Samuel  to  the  people :  “  The  God  of  your  fath¬ 
ers  has  sent  me  unto  you,  to  promise  you  victory  over  the 
Philistines,  and  deliverance  from  your  bondage,  if  you  will 
turn  and  leave  your  evil  ways.” 

’  Koran.  Sura  ii.  \  248.  *  D’Herbclot,  Bibl.  Orientale,  t.  i.  p.  263. 

Tabari,  i.  p  417. 


SAMUEL. 


3*3 

“  What  shall  we  do  ?  ”  asked  one  of  the  elders,  “  that  we 
may  obtain  the  favor  of  God  ?  ” 

Samuel  answered,  “Ye  must  pray  to  God  alone,  and  offer 
no  sacrifices  to  idols,  nor  eat  the  flesh  of  swine,  or  blood ; 
neither  must  you  eat  any  thing  which  is  not  slaughtered  in  the 
name  of  the  Most  High.  Ye  must  assist  one  another,  honor 
your  parents,  entreat  your  wives  with  kindness,  and  support 
the  widows,  orphans,  and  poor.  Ye  shall  believe  in  the  proph¬ 
ets  who  have  gone  before  me,  especially  in  Abraham,  for 
whom  God  turned  a  fiery  pile  into  a  pleasure  garden ;  in  Ish- 
mael,  whose  neck  God  made  as  a  flint  stone,  and  for  whom  He 
opened  a  fountain  in  the  stony  desert;  and  in  Moses,  who 
with  his  staff  opened  twelve  clay  paths  through  the  sea. 
Also  ye  shall  believe  in  the  prophets  who  shall  follow  after  me, 
especially  in  Isa  Ibn  Mariam  (Jesus,  Son  of  Mary),  the  Spirit 
of  God,  and  in  Mohammed  Ibn  Abd-Allah.” 

“  And  who  is  this  Isa  ?  ”  asked  one  of  the  elders  of  Israel. 

“  Isa,”  pursued  Samuel,  “  is  the  prophet  foretold  in  the 
Tora  as  the  Word  of  God.  His  mother  Mariam  (Mary)  shall 
conceive  him  by  the  will  of  God,  and  by  a  breath  of  the  angel 
Gabriel.  In  his  mother’s  womb  will  he  praise  the  almighty 
power  of  God,  and  testify  to  the  immaculate  purity  of  his 
mother  ;  afterwards  will  he  heal  the  sick  and  crippled,  will 
quicken  the  dead,  and  will  create  living  birds  out  of  clay.1  His 
godless  cotemporaries  will  deal  cruelly  with  him,  and  will  cru¬ 
cify  him ;  but  God  will  deceive  their  eyes  and  will  let  another 
die  in  his  room,  and  he  will  be  carried  up  into  heaven  like  the 
prophet  Idris  (Enoch).” 

“  And  Mohammed,”  asked  the  same  Israelite,  “  who  is  he  ? 
His  name  sounds  strange  in  our  ears,  ne^er  have  we  heard  that 
name  before.” 

“  Mohammed,”  answered  Samuel,  “  does  not  belong  to  the 
_*ace  of  Israel ;  he  will  descend  from  the  seed  of  Ishmael,  and 
he  will  be  the  last  and  greatest  of  the  prophets,  before  whom 
Moses  and  Christ  will  bend  at  the  Resurrection  Day.  His 
name,  which  signifies  the  Much  Praised,  is  prophetic  of  the 
laud  and  honor  he  will  receive  from  all  creatures  on  earth,  and 
all  the  angels  in  heaven.  The  miracles  he  will  work  are  num¬ 
berless,  so  that  a  man’s  life  is  not  long  enough  to  relate  them 

1  This  incident,  from  the  apocryphal  gospels  of  the  childhood  of  Christ, 
fhgll  be  related  in  the.  Legendary  Lives  of  New  Testament  Characters. 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


324 

all.  I  shall  be  able  to  tell  you  only  the  events  of  a  single 
night. 

“  One  fearful  night  of  tempest,  in  which  neither  cock  will 
crow  nor  dog  bark,  Mohammed  shall  be  aroused  from  sleep 
by  Gabriel,  who  shall  appear  to  him  in  the  shape  he  has  when 
he  appears  before  God,  with  seven  hundred  wings  streaming 
with  light ;  between  each  a  space  such  as  a  fleet-footed  horse 
could  scarce  traverse  in  five  hundred  years.  Gabriel  will  lead 
the  prophet  forth  into  the  open  air,  where  the  wondrous  horse 
Borak  will  be  ready.  That  is  the  horse  on  which  Abraham 
mounted  when  he  made  his  pilgrimages  from  Syria  to  Mecca. 
This  horse  has  two  wings  as  an  eagle,  and  feet  like  a  drome¬ 
dary,  and  a  body  like  a  costly  gem,  shining  like  the  sun,  and  a 
head  like  the  fairest  maiden.  On  this  wondrous  beast,  whose 
brow  bears  the  inscription,  ‘  There  is  no  God  save  God,  and 
Mohammed  is  his  prophet,’  he  will  mount  and  ride,  first  to 
Medina,  then  to  Sinai,  thence  to  Bethlehem,  and  finally  to  Je¬ 
rusalem,  to  view  the  holy  places,  and  at  them  to  offer  up  his 
prayers.  From  Jerusalem  he  will  ascend  on  a  golden  ladder, 
with  rungs  of  rubies,  emeralds,  and  jacinths,  into  the  seventh 
heaven,  where  he  will  be  instructed  in  all  the  mysteries  of  the 
creation,  and  the  governance  of  the  world.  He  will  see  the 
blessed  in  all  their  joy,  in  Paradise,  and  the  sinners,  in  all  their 
pain,  in  Hell.  There  will  he  see  many  pasturing  wild  cattle 
in  unfruitful  fields.  These  are  they  who  in  th'e  time  of  life  used 
the  gifts  of  God  without  giving  to  those  in  need.  Others  will 
he  see  running  about,  and  carrying  in  one  hand  fresh,  and  in 
the  other  putrid,  meat,  and  as  often  as  they  attempt  to  taste 
the  former,  a  fiery  rod  will  smite  them  on  the  hand,  till  they 
devour  the  latter.  This  is  the  punishment  of  those  who  have 
violated  marriage,  and  have  preferred  forbidden  pleasures. 
Others  have  a  swollen  body,  swelling  daily  more  and  more ; 
these  are  the  fraudulent  and  avaricious.  Others  have  their 
tongues  and  lips  fastened  together  with  iron  clamps  ;  these  are 
the  slanderers  and  backbiters.  Between  Paradise  and  Hell 
sits  Adam,  laughing  with  joy  when  the  gate  of  Heaven  opens 
to  receive  one  of  his  sons,  and  he  hears  the  songs  and  shouts 
of  the  blessed ;  weeping  with  self-reproach  when  the  gate  of 
Hell  uncloses  to  take  in  one  of  his  descendants,  and  he  hears 
the  sobbing  of  the  damned.  On  this  night  will  Mohammed 
also  see,  besides  Gabriel,  the  other  angels,  who  have  each  sev¬ 
enty  thousand  heads,  and  in  each  head  seventy  thousand  faces, 


SAUL. 


325 


and  in  each  face  seventy  thousand  mouths,  and  in  each  mouth 
seventy  thousand  tongues,  wherewith  they  cease  not  day  or 
night  to  praise  God  in  seventy  thousand  diverse  languages. 
He  will  also  see  the  angel  of  atonement,  who  is  half  fire,  half 
ice  ;  also  the  angel  who  watches  the  treasure  of  fire  with  gloomy 
countenance  and  flashing  eyes;  also  the  angel  of  death,  with 
a  great  writing-table  in  his  hand,  whereon  are  inscribed  many, 
names,  and  from  which  at  every  instant  he  wipes  off*  several 
hundreds  ;  finally,  the  angel  who  guards  the  waters,  and  weighs 
in  great  scales  the  water  allotted  to  each  spring  and  well,  and 
brook  and  river ;  and  the  angel  who  bears  up  the  throne  of 
God  on  his  shoulders,  and  has  a  horn  in  his  mouth,  wherewith 
he  will  blow  the  blast  that  is  to  wake  the  dead.  Moreover, 
the  prophet  will  be  conducted  through  many  seas  of  light  near 
to  the  throne  itself,  which  is  so  great  that  the  whole  world  will 
be  beside  it  as  a  link  in  a  coat  of  mail  dropped  in  the  desert. 
What  will  be  further  revealed  to  him,”  answered  Samuel,  “  is 
unknown  to  me  ;  this  only  I  know,  that,  after  having  contem¬ 
plated  the  Majesty  of  God  a  bowshot  off,  he  will  descend  the 
ladder  precipitately,  and,  mounting  Borak,  will  return  to  Mecca. 
Now  the  whole  of  this  journey,  his  sojourn  in  Medina,  Bethle¬ 
hem,  Jerusalem,  and  the  seventh  heaven,  will  occupy  so  little 
time,  that  a  water-pitcher  which  he  upset  as  he  left  the  house 
in  Mecca  will  not  have  run  all  its  waters  out  by  his  return.” 

The  assembled  Israelites  listened  to  Samuel,  and  when  he 
was  silent  they  cried  with  one  voice,  “  We  believe  in  God  and  in 
all  the  past  prophets,  and  in  all  those  who  are  yet  for  to  come. 
Pray  for  us  that  we  may  escape  the  tyrrany  of  Gjalout 
(Goliath).” 

Thus  Saul  was  chosen  king  of  Israel,  and  Samuel  was 
prophet  to  the  people  of  God.1 

XXXVI. 

SAUL. 

I.  WAR  WITH  THE  PHILISTINES. - GOLIATH  SLAIN. 

Samuel  ordered  Thalout  (Saul)  to  make  war  upon  Gjalout 
(Goliath),  and  to  assemble  the  fighting  men  of  the  tribes  of 

♦  1  Weil.  pp.  193-8. 


v 


3*6 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS . 


Israel.  Saul  summoned  all  the  men  and  they  numbered 
eighty  thousand.  Samuel  gave  Saul  a  suit  of  mail,  and  said 
to  him,  “  He  who  can  wear  this  coat  with  ease  will  decide  the 
war,  and  Goliath  will  perish  by  his  hand.” 

Saul  started  with  his  army;  his  way  led  through  a  desert, 
a  day’s  journey  across  ;  and  it  was  very  hot  weather.  On  the 
other  side  of  the  desert  was  a  broad  river,  between  Jordan 
and  Palestine,  and  the  children  of  Israel  had  to  pass  this  river 
to  reach  the  army  of  Goliath.  Saul  thought  that  now  he  would 
prove  his  soldiers,  for  Samuel  had  bidden  him  take  into  battle 
only  as  many  men  as  he  could  rely  upon. 

The  men  were  faint  with  heat  and  thirst  as  they  reached  the 
river  of  Palestine,  and  Saul  said,  “  He  who  drinks  of  this 
water  shall  not  come  with  me,  but  he  who  drinks  not  thereof 
shall  follow  after  me.”  1  For  he  would  not  have  them  slake 
their  thirst  till  they  reached  Jordan.2 

But,  according  to  another  version  of  the  story,  the  men 
were  fainting  in  the  wilderness,  and  murmured  against  Saul. 
Then  Samuel  prayed,  and  God  brought  a  water-spring  out  of 
the  dry,  stony  ground,  and  made  standing  water  in  the  desert, 
fresh  as  snow,  sweet  as  honey,  and  white  as  milk.3 

Samuel  spake  to  the  soldiers,  and  said,  “Ye  have  sinned 
against  your  king  and  against  God,  by  murmuring.  Therefore 
refuse  to  drink  of  this  water  except  in  the  hollow  of  your  hand, 
and  so  expiate  your  fault.”  4 

Samuel’s  words  were  disregarded.  Only  three  hundred  and 
thirteen  men  were  found  who  had  sufficient  control  over  them¬ 
selves  not  to  drink  except  slightly  out  of  the  hollow  of  their 
hand  ;  but  these  felt  their  thirst  quenched,  whereas  those  who 
had  laid  down  and  lapped  were  still  parched  with  thirst. 

Saul  and  his  armv  came  before  that  of  Goliath  ;  then  said 
the  majority  of  those  who  had  lain  down  and  lapped,  “  We 
have  no  strength  to-day  to  stand  against  the  Philistines.”  So 
Saul  dismissed  them  to  their  homes,  to  the  number  of  seventy- 
six  thousand  men  ;  he  had  still  with  him  four  thousand  men. 
Next  day,  when  they  saw  the  array  of  the  Philistines,  and  the 
gigantic  stature  of  their  king,  and  their  harness  flashing  in  the 
sun,  the  hearts  of  more  of  the  warriors  failed,  and  they  would 

1  Koran,  Sura  ii.  v.  250.  8  Tabari,  i.  p.  418. 

*  Ferhaps  the  Passage  in  Psaim  cvii.  35  may  refer  to  this  miracle,  un¬ 

recorded  in  Holy  Scripture. 

4  Weil,  pp.  200,  201. 


S.4  UL, 


s 


3*7 


not  follow  Saul  into  battle,  but  said,  “We  have  no  strength  to- 
day  to  stand  against  the  Philistines  !  ” 

So  Saul  dismissed  three  thousand  six  hundred  men,  and 
there  remained  to  him  only  three  hundred  and  thirteen,  the 
same  number  as  those  who  on  the  day  of  Bedr  remained  with 
the  prophet  Mohammed. 

Then  said  Saul,  “  God  is  favorable  to  us  !  ”  and  he  ad¬ 
vanced,  and  set  his  army  in  array  against  Goliath.  And  he 
prayed,  saying,  “  Grant  us,  O  Lord,  perseverance.” 1 

However,  God  sent  an  order  by  Samuel  saying,  “  Go  not 
into  battle  this  day,  for  the  man  who  is  to  slay  Goliath  is  not 
here  ;  he  is  Daud  (David),  son  of  Jesse,  son  of  Obed,  son  of 
Boaz  ;  he  is  a  little  man,  with  grey  eyes,  and  little  hair,  timid 
of  heart,  and  slender  of  body.  By  this  shalt  thou  know  him  : 
'when  thou  placest  the  horn  upon  his  head,  the  oil  will  over¬ 
flow’  and  boil.” 

Then  Samuel  went  to  Jesse,  and  said  to  him,  “  Amongst 
thy  sons  there  is  one  who  will  slay  Goliath.” 

Jesse  said,  “  I  have  eleven  sons,  men  stalwrart  and  comely., 

Samuel  placed  the  horn  on  their  heads,  but  the  oil  was  not 
tc  be  seen. 

Then  God  gave  him  a  vision,  and  he  said  to  him,  “Look 
not  at  the  beauty  and  strength  of  these  men,  but  on  the  purity 
of  their  hearts  and  their  fear  of  God.” 

Samuel  said  to  Jesse,  “God  says  thou  art  a  liar,  and  He 
says  thou  hast  another  son  besides  these.” 

Jesse  answered,  “  It  is  true  ;  but  he  is  diminutive  in  stature, 
and  I  am  ashamed  to  bring  him  into  the  company  of  men  ;  I 
make  him  tend  sheep  ;  he  is  somewhere  with  the  dock  to-day.” 

Samuel  went  to  the  place,  and  it  was  a  valley  into  which  a  » 
torrent  fell.  He  saw  David  drawing  the  sheep  out  of  the  tor¬ 
rent  by  twos.  Samuel  said,  “  Certainly  this  is  the  man  I  seek.” 
He  placed  the  horn  on  his  head,  and  the  oil  overflowed. 

Now  Goliath,  seeing  the  small  number  of  the  children  of 
Israel,  despised  them,  and  scorned  to  fight  them.  He  sent  a 
messenger  to  Saul,  saying,  “  Thou  hast  come  out  to  fight 
against  me  with  this  handful,  and  I  disdain  to  attack  thee  with 
my  large  army.  If  thou  wrilt,  come  forth  that  we  may  fight 
each  other,  or  send  any  one  out  of  the  army,  whom  thou  wilt, 
to  fight  with  me.” 


1  Korsm.  Sura  ii.  v.  25E. 


3a8  OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 

None  in  Saul’s  army  would  venture  against  the  giant,  and 
Saul  was  himself  afraid.  He  produced  the  shirt  of  mail  Sam¬ 
uel  had  given  him,  and  he  tried  it  upon  each  of  his  soldiers  in 
turn ;  but  it  was  too  short  for  one,  too  long  for  another,  too 
tight  for  a  third,  and  too  loose  for  a  fourth. 

Now  the  father  of  David  had  come  with  his  eleven  sons 
into  the  host ;  but  he  had  left  David,  because  he  was  young 
and  small  of  stature,  to  keep  the  sheep :  and  he  had  bidden 
him,  from  time  to  time,  bring  him  supplies  of  food.  David 
came  with  the  provisions.  He  was  dressed  in  a  woollen  shirt, 
and  he  bore  in  his  hand  the  staff,  and  a  pouch  attached  to  his 
waist. 

As  he  passed  over  a  pebbly  strip  of  soil,  a  stone  cried  to 
him,  “  Pick  me  up,  and  take  me  with  thee.”  He  stooped  and 
picked  up  the  stone,  and  placed  it  in  his  pouch.  And  when  ' 
he  had  taken  a  few  paces,  another  stone  cried  to  him,  “  Pick 
me  up,  and  take  me  with  thee.”  He  did  so.  And  a  third 
stone  cried  in  like  manner,  and  was  in  like  manner  taken  by 
David.  The  first  stone  was  that  wherewith  Abraham  had 
driven  away  Satan,  when  he  sought  to  dissuade  the  patriarch 
from  offering  up  his  son ;  and  the  second  stone  was  that  on 
which  the  foot  of  Gabriel  rested  when  he  opened  the  foun¬ 
tain  in  the  desert  for  Hagar  and  Ishmael ;  and  the  third  stone 
was  that  wherewith  Jacob  strove  against  the  angel  whom  his 
brother  Esau  had  sent  against  him.1  But,  according  to  anoth¬ 
er  account,  the  first  was  the  stone  which  Moses  cast  against 
the  enemies  of  God,  the  second  was  that  cast  by  Aaron,  the 
third  was  destined  to  cause  the  death  of  Goliath.2  When 
David  came  into  the  army,  Saul  had  finished  trying  on  the  suit 
of  mail  upon  the  soldiers,  and  he  said,  u  It  fits  none  of  them.” 
Then  he  spied  David,  and  he  said,  “  Young  man,  let  me  place 
this  shirt  of  mail  on  thee.”  Then  he  cast  it  over  him,  and  it 
fitted  him  exactly. 

Saul  said,  “Wilt  thou  fight  Goliath? ” 

David  answered,  “  I  will  do  so.” 

Saul  said,  “  With  what  horse  and  arras  wilt  thou  go  ?  ” 

David  answered,  “  I  will  have  no  horse  and  no  arms,  save 
these  stones  of  the  brook.” 

David  was  feeble  in  body,  he  had  grey  eyes,  was  short 
yellow-complexioned,  thin-faced,  and  had  red  hair.3 

Saul  had  little  hope  that  David  would  overcome  the  giant, 

1  Weil,  p.  303.  2  Tabari,  i.  p.  421.  *  Ibid. 


SAUL. 


3*9 

but  he  thought  his  example  might  shame  and  stimulate  others,' 
therefore  he  let  him  go. 

Now  when  Goliath  came  forth  and  defied  the  army  of  Israel, 
David  went  to  meet  him,  wearing  only  his  linen  shirt,  and  belt, 
and  pouch,  and  he  had  his  shepherd’s  staff  in  his  hand. 

Then  cried  Goliath,  “  Who  art  thou,  that  comest  out  to 
meet  me  ?” 

Then  David  replied,  “  I  am  come  out  to  fight  with  thee.” 

Goliath  said,  “  Go  back,  petty  fool,  and  play  with  children 
of  thine  own  age.  I  despise  thee  ;  thou  art  unarmed.” 

“  And  I  despise  thee,  dog  of  a  Philistine !  ”  cried  the  strip¬ 
ling  ;  “  thou  deservest  to  be  dealt  with  as  men  deal  with  dogs, 
— pelting  their  with  stones  till  they  turn  tail.” 

Then  Goliath  was  it.  a  rage,  and  he  lifted  his  spear  against 
David  ;  but  David  hasted  and  loosed  his  belt,  and  laid  in  it 
one  of  the  stones,  and  slung  it ;  and  the  wind  caught  the  hel¬ 
met  of  Goliath,  and  lifted  it  in  the  air  above  his  head,  and  the 
stone  struck  him  on  the  brow,  and  sank  in,  and  crushed  all  his 
skull,  and  strewed  his  brains  all  over  the  horse  he  rode;  then 
the  giant  fell  out  of  his  saddle,  and  died. 

Then  again  David  placed  the  second  stone  in  his  sling,  and 
he  cast  it,  and  it  smote  the  right  wing  of  the  army  of  the  Phil¬ 
istines  ;  then  he  cast  the  third  stone,  and  it  smote  the  left  wing, 
and  the  host  of  the  Philistines  fled  before  him.1 

2  SAUL’S  JEALOUSY  OF  DAVID. 

Saul  had  promised  his  daughter  to  the  man  who  should  slay 
Goliath.  When  the  Philistines  had  been  routed,  Saul  told 
Samuel  all  that  had  taken  place  ;  and  the  prophet  exhorted 
the  king  to  fulfil  his  promise,  and  to  give  to  David  his  daughter 
in  marriage. 

To  this  Saul  agreed,  and  he  gave  David  his  ring,  and  made 
him  manager  of  all  his  affairs,  and  he  exalted  him  to  be  his 
son-in-law. 

Several  years  passed,  and  Saul  became  envious  of  David, 
whose  praise  was  in  everybody’s  mouth. 

He  sent  David  into  the  wars,  in  hopes  of  his  there  meeting 
his  death  ;  but  it  was  all  in  vain.  Then  he  spoke  to  his  daugh¬ 
ter  Michal,  that  she  should  introduce  him  into  her  husband’s 

1  Tabari,  i.  p.  422  ;  Weil,  pp.  202-4  ;  D’Herbelot,  i.  p.  362. 


33<> 


OLD  TESTAMEN7  CHARACTERS. 


chamber  at  night,  that  he  might  slay  David  with  his  own 
hand. 

Michal  told  David  her  father’s  resolution,  with  maijy  tears ; 
but  David  bade  her  be  comforted.  “  For,”  said  he,  “  the  God 
of  my  fathers,  who  preserved  Abraham  and  Moses  from  the 
hands  of  the  executioner,  will  deliver  me  from  thy  father.  But 
do  as  he  bade  thee,  open  the  door  at  night,  and  fear  not  for 
•  me.” 

Then  David  went  into  his  smithy  and  wrought  a  suit  of 
chain  mail.  He  was  the  inventor  of  chain-armor.  And  he 
had  received  from  God  the  power  of  moulding  iron,  like  wax, 
in  his  fingers,  without  fire  and  without  hammer. 

r\so-:  '.r>cd  himself  a.  whole  suit  of  chain  mail 
it  was  so  thin  that  it  was  like  gossamer,  and  it  fitted  to  his 
body  like  his  skin,  and  it  was  impenetrable  to  the  thrust  of 
every  weapon 

David  put  upon  him  his  armor,  and  lay  down  in  his  bed. 
He  slept,  but  was  awakened  at  midnight  by  the  knife  of  Saul 
stabbing  at  him  as  he  lay.  He  sprang  up,  struck  the  weapon 
from  the  hands  of  his  father-in-law,  and  thrust  him  forth  out 
of  the  house.1 

After  this,  Saul  came  to  Michal  and  said,  “  He  was  not 
asleep,  or  I  certainly  would  have  slain  him.  Admit  me  again 
into  his  chamber  at  night.” 

Michal  went  to  David  and  told  him  all  with  many  tears. 

Then  said  David,  “  I  must  escape  from  my  house,  for  my 
life  is  not  in  security  here.  But  do  thou  fill  a  leather  bottle 
with  wine,  and  lay  it  in  my  bed.” 

Michal  did  so  ;  she  took  a  large  skin  of  wine  and  placed  it 
in  the  bed,  and  drew  the  cover  over  it  But  David  fled  away 
to  Hebron. 

And  in  the  night  came  Saul,  and  he  felt  the  clothes,  and  he 
thought  it  was  David  in  the  bed,  so  he  stabbed  at  him  with  his 
knife,  and  the  wine  ran  out  in  the  bed.  Then  Saul  smelt  it, 
and  he  said,  “  How  much  wine  the  fellow  drank  for  his 
supper 1  ” 1  • 

But  when  he  found  that  David  had  escaped  him  once  more, 
he  was  wroth,  and  he  gathered  men  together,  and  pursued  after 

1  Weil,  pp.  205-8. 

*  Tabari,  i.  p.  423.  The  same  story  is  told  of  the  escape  of  S.  Felix 
of  Nola,  in  the  Decian  persecution. 


SAUL. 


33* 


him  ;  in  his  anger,  moreover,  he  sought  to  kill  Michal,  but  she 
fled  away  and  concealed  herseff. 

Saul  pursued  David  in  the  mountains,  but  David  knew  all 
the  caves  and  lurking-places,  and  Saul  was  unable  to  catch 
him.  One  night,  David  crept  into  the  camp  and  thrust  four 
arrows,  inscribed  with  his  name,  into  the  ground,  round  the 
head  of  Saul.  When  Saul  awoke,  he  saw  these  arrows,  and 
he  said,  “  David  has  been  here  ;  he  might  have  slain  me  had 
he  willed  it.” 

During  the  day,  Saul  came  upon  his  enemy  in  a  narrow 
valley  ;  he  was  mounted,  and  he  pursued  David,  who  was  on 
foot.  David  fled  as  fast  as  he  could  run,  and  managed  to 
reach  a  cave  a  few  moments  before  Saul  could  reach  it. 
Then  God  sent  a  spider,  which  spun  a  web  over  the  mouth  of 
the  cave ;  and  Saul  saw  it  and  passed  on,  saying,  “  Certainly 
David  cannot  have  entered  in  there,  or  the  web  would  be 
torn.”  1 

One  night,  Saul  and  his  soldiers  lodged  in  a  cavern.  And 
David  was  there,  but  they  knew  it  not.  In  the  night  David 
carried  off  the  sword  and  banner  and  seal-ring  of  the  king, 
and  he  went  forth  out  of  the  cave,  for  it  had  two  openings.  In 
the  morning,  when  Saul  prepared  to  continue  his  search,  he  saw 
him  on  a  mountain  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  cave,  and  David 
had  girded  the  royal  sword  to  his  side,  and  brandished  the  flag, 
and  held  forth  his  finger  that  all  might  note  that  he  had  on  it 
the  king’s  signet.2 

Then  Saul  said,  “  His  heart  is  better  than  mine  ;  ”  and  he 
was  reconciled  with  David,  and  he  bade  him  return  with  him 
and  live  at  peace.  And  he  did  so. 

3.  THE  DEATH  OF  SAUL. 

Now  when  Saul  had  gone  forth  against  David,  the  wise  men 
of  Israel  had  gathered  themselves  together,  and  had  remon¬ 
strated  with  him.  But  Saul  was  wroth  at  this  interference,  and 
he  slew  them  all,  and  there  escaped  none  of  them  save  one 
wise  woman,  whom  his  vizir  spared.  This  vizir  was  a  good 
man,  and  he  took  the  woman  into  his  own  house,  and  she  lived 
with  his  family. 

Some  time  after  that,  Saul  had  a  dream,  and  in  his  dream 
he  was  reproached  for  having  slain  the  wise  men.  And  when 

1  Tabari,  p.  429.  *  Weil,  p.  207. 


33* 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


he  awoke  he  was  full  of  remorse,  and  he  went  to  his  vizir  and 
said,  “  It  repents  me  that  I  have  put  to  death  all  the  wise  men 
of  my  realm  ;  is  there  none  remaining  of  whom  I  might  ask 
counsel  how  I  could  expiate  my  crime  ?  ” 

Then  the  vizir  answered,  “  There  remains  but  one,  and  that 
is  a  woman.” 

Saul  said,  “  Bring  her  hither  before  me.” 

Now,  when  the  wise  woman  was  come  before  Saul,  the  king 
was  troubled  in  mind,  and  he  said,  “  Show  me  how  I  can  make 
atonement  for  the  great  sin  that  I  have  committed.” 

The  woman  answered,  “  Lead  me  to  the  tomb  of  a  prophet ; 
I  will  pray,  and  may  be  God  will  suffer  him  to  speak.” 

They  went  to  the  tomb  of  Samuel,  and  the  woman  prayed. 

Then  Samuel  spake  out  of  his  sepulchre,  and  said,  “  Let  his 
expiation  be  this :  He  shall  go  down,  he  and  his  sons,  to  the 
city  of  Giants,  and  they  shall  fall  there.” 

Saul  had  ‘twelve  sons.  He  called  them  to  him  and  said  to 
them  all  the  words  of  Samuel.  They  then  answered,  “  We  are 
ready,  let  us  go  down. 

So  they  went  to  the  city  of  Giants,  and  fought  against  it, 
and  fell  there,  all  in  one  day.1 

/ 

XXXVII. 

DAVID. 

David  says  of  himself,  “  Behold ’  I  was  shapen  in  wickedness ; 
and  in  sin  did  my  ?nother  conceive  me.” 2  The  Rabbis  explain 
this  passage  by  narrating  the  circumstances  of  the  conception 
of  David,  which  I  shall  give  in  Latin.  The  mother  of  David 
they  say  was  named  Nitzeneth.  “  Dixerunt  Rabbini  nostri 
beatae  memoriae,  quod  Isai  (Jesse)  habebat  ancillam,  eamque 
sollicitabat  ad  turpia ;  quae,  cum  esset  pudica  et  fidelis  uxori 
Isai,  eidem  retulit ;  quae  seipsam  aptavit  (loco  ancillae)  et  con- 
gressa  est  cum  Isai,  ex  quo  concubitu  egressus  est  David.  Et 
quia  Isai  intentio  fuerat  in  ancillam,  quamquam  res  aliter  evene- 
rat,  idcirco  dixit  David, — super  eum  sit  pax  :  Ecce  in  iniquitate 
formatus  sum,  et  peccato  calefecit  me  mater  mea”  3 

On  this  account,  Jesse,  having  discovered  the  deception, 
lightly  esteemed  his  son  David,  and  sent  him  to  keep  sheep, 

1  Tabari,  i.  p.  424.  s  Ps.  li.  5.  8  Midrash,  fol.  204,  col.  1. 


DAVID 


333 


and  made  him  as  a  servant  to  his  brethren.  And  to  this  David 
refers  when  he  says,  “  The  stone  which  the  builders  rejected  is 
become  the  head  of  the  comer 1  for,  from  being  the  despised 
brother,  put  to  menial  work,  he  was  exalted  before  his  brethren 
to  be  king  over  Israel. 

When  David  was  born  he  would  have  died  immediately, 
had  not  Adam,  when  he  saw  his  posterity  marshalled  before 
him,  taken  compassion  on  David,  and  given  him  seventy  years.4 

However,  David  was  without  a  soul  for  the  first  fourteen 
years,  of  his  life,  and  was  so  regarded  by  God,  as  he  was  un¬ 
circumcised  ;  *  but  other  Rabbinic  writers  say  that  he  was  born 
circumcised. 

The  Jewish  authors  relate,  as  do  the  Mussulman  historians, 
that  David  had  red  hair.  In  Jalkut  (i  Sam.  xvi.  12)  it  is 
said,  “  Samuel  sent,  and  made  David  come  before  him,  and  he 
had  red  hair  ;  ” 4  and  again  in  Bereschith  Rabba,  “  When 
Samuel  saw  that  David  had  red  hair,  he  feared  and  said,  He 
will  shed  blood  as  did  Esau.  But  the  ever-blessed  God  said, 
This  man  will  shed  it  with  unimpassioned  eyes — this  did  not 
Esau.  Esau  slew  out  of  his  own  caprice,  but  this  man  will 
execute  those  sentenced  to  death  by  the  Sanhedrim.” 

David  was  very  small,  but  when  Samuel  poured  the  oil  upon 
his  head  and  anointed  him,  he  grew  rapidly,  and  was  soon  as 
tall  as  was  Saul.  And  this  the  commentators  conclude  from 
the  fact  of  Saul  having  put  his  armor  upon  David,  and  it  fitted 
him.  Now  Saul  was  a  bead  and  shoulders  taller  than  any  man 
in  Israel ;  therefore  David  must  have  started  to  equal  height 
since  his  anointing.6 

David  was  gifted  with  the  evil  eye,  and  was  able  to  give  the 
leprosy  by  turning  a  malignant  glance  upon  any  man.  “  When 
it  is  written,  4  The  Philistine  cursed  David  by  his  gods,' 6  David 
looked  at  him  with  the  evil  eye.  For  whoever  was  looked 
upon  by  him  with  the  evil  eye  became  leprous,  as  Joab  knew 
to  his  cost,  for  after  David  had  cast  the  evil  glance  on  him,  it 
is  said,  4  Let  there  not  fail  from  the  house  of  Joab  one  that  hath 
an  issue ,  or  that  is  a  leper.' 7 

44  The  same  befell  the  Philistine  when  he  cursed  David. 
David  then  threw  on  him  the  malignant  glance,  and  fixed  it 

1  Ps.  cxviii.  22.  *  See  the  story  in  the  Legends  of  Adam. 

8  Zohar,  in  Bartolocci,  i.  fol.  85,  col.  2. 

4  Jalkut,  fol.  32.  col.  2  (Parasch.  2,  numb.  134}. 

•  Ibid.  (Parasch.  2,  numb.  127).  4  1  Sam.  xvii.  43  ’2  Sam.  iii.  *9. 


V 


334 


lLD  testament  characters. 


on  his  brow,  that  he  might  at  once  become  leprous  ;  and  at  the 
same  moment  the  stone  and  the  leprosy  struck  him.”  1 

But  David  was  himself  afflicted  for  six  months  with  this 
loathsome  malady,  and  it  is  in  reference  to  this  that  he  says, 
“  Thou  shalt  purge  me  with  hyssop,  and  I  shall  be  clean  ;  Thou 
shalt  wash  me,  and  I  shall  be  whiter  than  snow During  this 
period,  he  was  cast  out  and  separated  from  the  elders  of  the 
people,  and  the  Divinity  withdrew  from  him.2  And  this  ex¬ 
plains  the  discrepancy  apparent  in  the  account  of  the  number 
of  years  he  reigned.  It  is  said  that  he  reigned  over  Israel 
forty  years,3  but  he  reigned  seven  years  in  Hebron  and  thirty 
and  three  in  Jerusalem.  In  the  Second  Book  of  Samuel,  how¬ 
ever,  it  is  said,  he  reigned  in  Hebron  seven  years  and  six 
months  ;*  though  the  statement  that  he  reigned  only  forty  years 
in  all,  that  is,  thirty-three  in  Jerusalem,  is  repeated.  Conse¬ 
quently  these  six  months  do  not  count,  the  reason  being  that 
David  was  at  that  time  afflicted  with  the  disorder,  and  cut  off 
from  society,  and  reputed  as  one  dead.5 

The  Rabbis  suppose  that  David  sinned  in  cutting  off  the 
skirt  of  Saul’s  robe  ; 6  and  they  say  that  he  expiated  this  fault 
in  his  old  age,  by  finding  no  warmth  in  his  clothes,  wherewith 
he  wrapped  himself.7  For  it  is  said,  “  King  David  was  old  and 
stricken  in  years  ;  and  they  covered  him  with  clothes ,  but  he  got  no 
heat.”  8 

To  David  is  attributed  by  the  Rabbi  Solomon  the  power  of 
calling  down  the  rain,  the  hail,  and  the  tempest,  in  vengeance 
upon  his  enemies.  “Our  Rabbis,”  says  he,  “say  that  these 
things  were  formerly  stored  in  heaven,  but  David  came  and 
made  them  to  descend  on  the  earth :  for  they  are  means  of 
vengeance,  and  it  is  not  fitting  that  they  should  be  garnered  in 
the  Treasury  of  God.”  But  the  rain  and  hail  fell  at  the 
Deluge,  in  Egypt,  and  on  the  Amorites ;  therefore  the  signifi¬ 
cation  to  be  attributed  to  this  opinion  of  the  Rabbis  probably 
is,  that  David  was  the  first  to  be  able  to  call  them  dcwn  by  his 
prayer. 

David  had  a  lute  which  he  hung  up  above  his  head  in  the 
bed,  and  the  openings  of  the  lute  were  turned  towards  tie 

1  Zohar,  in  Bartolocci,  i.  fol.  99,  col.  I. 

*  Talmud.  Tract.  Sanhedrim,  fol.  107.  *  7  Kings  ii.  11. 

4  2  Sim.  v.  5.  6  Bartolocci,  i.  f.  IOO.  4  I  Sam.  xxiv.  4. 

1  Bartolocci,  i.  f.  122.  col.  I.  *  I  Kings  l  I. 

9  Bartolocci,  i.  f.  122.  col.  2. 


DA  V/D. 


335 


north,  and  when  the  cool  night  air  whispered  in  the  room 
towards  dawn,  it  stirred  the  strings  of  the  lute,  which  gave  forth 
such  sweet  and  resonant  notes,  tha/  David  was  aroused  from 
his  sleep  early,  before  daybreak,  that  he  might  occupy  himself 
in  the  study  of  the  Law.  And  it  is  to  this  that  he  refers  when 
he  cries  in  his  Psalm,  “ Awake  lute  and  harp :  I  myself  ivill 
awake  right  early  P  1 

When  Absalom  was  slain,  David  saw  Scheol  (Hell)  opened, 
and  his  son  tormented,  for  his  rebellion,  in  the  lowest  depths. 
The  sight  was  so  distressing  to  the  king,  that  he  wrapped  his 
mantle  about  his  face  and  cried,  “  O  my  son  Absalom  l  my  son, 
my  son  Absalom  l  would  God  I  had  died  for  thee ,  O  Absalom , 
my  son,  my  son  1”  Here  it  is  to  be  noted  that  David  called 
Absalom  either  by  name  or  by  his  relationship  seven  times. 
Now  in  Hell  there  are  seven  mansions,  and  as  each  cry 
escaped  the  father’s  heart,  Absalom  was  released  from  one  of 
these  divisions  of  the  Pit ;  and  he  thus  effected  his  escape 
from  Gehenna  through  the  love  of  his  father,  which  drew  him 
up  out  of  misery. J 

David  was  very  desirous  to  build  a  temple  to  the  Lord,  but 
God  would  not  suffer  him  to  do  so,  as  he  was  a  man  of  blood. 
This  is  the  reason  why  he  so  desired  to  erect  a  temple.  When 
he  was  young,  and  pastured  his  father’s  sheep,  he  came  one 
day  upon  a  rhinoceros  (unicorn)  asleep,  and  he  did  not  know 
that  it  was  a  rhinoceros,  but  thought  it  was  a  mountain,  so  he 
drove  his  flock  up  its  back,  and  fed  them  on  the  grass  which 
grew  thereon.  But  presently  the  rhinoceros  awoke,  and  stood 
up,  and  then  David’s  head  touched  the  sky.  He  was  filled 
with  terror,  and  he  vowed  that  if  God  would  save  his  life  and 
bring  him  safely  to  the  ground  again,  he  would  build  to  the 
Lord  a  temple  of  the  dimensions  of  the  horn  of  the  beast,  an 
hundred  cubits.  The  Talmudists  are  not  agreed  as  to  whether 
this  was  the  height,  or  the  breadth,  of  the  horn  however,  the 
vow  was  heard,  and  the  Lord  sent  a  lion  against  the  rhinoceros 
and  when  the  unicorn  saw  the  lion,  he  lay  down,  and  David 
descended  his  back,  along  with  his  sheep,  as  fast  as  possible  ; 
but  when  he  saw  the  lion,  his  spirit  failed  him  again.  How¬ 
ever  he  took  the  lion  by  the  beard,  and  smote,  and  slew  him. 
This  adventure  the  Psalmist  recalls  when  he  says,  “  Save  me 
fro?n  the  lion's  mouth  ;  Thou  hast  heard  me  also  from  among 

1  Ps.  lvii.  9 ;  Bartolocci,  i.  fol.  125,  col.  2. 

*  Talmud,  Tract.  Sota,  fol.  10  b. 


336 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


the  horns  of  the  unicorn;  ”  1  and  to  his  vow  he  alludes  in  Psalm 
cxxxii.,  “Lord,  reme?nber  David '  and  all  his  trouble;  how  he 
sware  unto  the  Lord,  and  vowed  a  vow  unto  the  Almighty  God 
of  Jacob.”  * 

One  day  David  was  hunting  in  the  wilderness.  Then  came 
Satan,  in  the  form  of  a  stag,  and  David  shot  an  arrow  at  him, 
but  could  not  kill  him.  This  astonished  him,  for  on  one  occa 
sion,  in  strife  with  the  Philistines,  he  had  transfixed  eight  hun¬ 
dred  men  with  one  arrow.3  Then  he  chased  the  deer,  and  it 
ran  before  him  into  the  Philistine  land.  Now  when  Ishbi- 
benob,  who  was  of  the  sons  of  the  giant,  knew  this,  he  said,  “  Da¬ 
vid  has  slain  my  brother  Goliath  ;  now  he  is  in  my  power  !  ” 
and  he  came  upon  him  and  chained  him,  and  cast  him  down, 
and  laid  a  wine-press  upon  him,  that  he  might  crush  him,  and 
squeeze  all  the  blood  out  of  him.  But  God  softened  the  earth 
beneath  him,  so  that  it  yielded  to  his  body,  and  he  was  unin¬ 
jured  ;  as  he  says  in  the  Psalms,  “  Thou  shalt  make  room 
enough  under  me  for  to  go.”  4  And  as  David  lay  under  the  press, 
he  saw  a  dove  fly  by,  and  he  said,  “  O  that  I  had  wings  as  a 
dove,  that  I  might  fee  away ,  and  be  at  rest ;  ”  6  and  he  alludes 
to  his  being  among  the  pots,  and  noting  the  wings  of  the  dove 
as  silver,  in  another  Psalm.® 

Now  Abishai,  the  son  of  Zeruiah,  heard  the  plaining  of  the 
dove,  which  had  seen  the  trouble  of  the  king,  and  came  into 
Jerusalem  in  grief  thereat.  Then  Abishai  went  to  the  chamber 
of  David  to  search  for  him,  but  he  was  not  there.  Then  he 
knew  that  the  king  must  be  in  danger,  and  the  only  means  of 
reaching  him  with  speed  was  to  mount  the  royal  mule,  which 
was  fleet  as  the  wind  ;  but  this  Abishai  did  not  venture  to  do 
without  advice,  for  he  remembered  the  words  of  the  Mischna, 
“  Thou  shalt  not  ride  the  king’s  horse,  nor  mount  his  throne, 
nor  grasp  his  sceptre.”  But  as  the  danger  was  pressing, 
Abishai  went  to  the  school,  and  consulted  the  doctors  of  the 
Law,  who  said,  “  In  an  emergency  all  things  are  lawful.”  Then 
he  mounted  the  mule  of  King  David,  and  rode  into  the  desert, 
and  the  earth  flew  under  him,  and  he  reached  the  house  of  Ishbi- 
benob.  Now  the  mother  of  Ishbi-benob — her  name  was  Or- 
pha — sat  without  the  door  spinning.  And  when  she  saw 
Abishai  galloping  up,  she  brake  her  thread  and  flung  the  spin¬ 
dle  at  him,  with  intent  to  strike  him  dead.  But  the  spindle  fell 

1  Ps.  xxii.  21.  *  Midrash  Tillim,  fol.  21,  col.  2. 

*  Eisenmenger,  i.  p.  409.  4  Ps.  xviii.  36.  *  Ps.  lv.  6,  *  Ps.  Lxviii.  13 


DA  VI D. 


337 


short  of  him.  So  Orpha  cried  to  him,  “  Give  me  my  spindle, 
boy.”  Abishai  stooped  and  picked  it  up,  and  cast  it  at  her 
with  all  his  force,  and  it  struck  her  on  the  brow,  and  broke  her 
skull,  and  she  fell  back  and  died. 

Then,  when  Ishbi-benob  saw  what  was  done,  he  said, 
“  These  two  men  will  be  too  much  for  me  !  ”  so  he  drew  Da¬ 
vid  from  under  the  wine-press,  and  flung  him  high  into  the  air, 
and  set  his  lance  in  the  ground,  that  David  might  fall  upon  it, 
and  be  transfixed.  But  Abishai  cried  the  Sacred  Name,  and 
David  was  arrested  in  his  fall,  and  hung  between  heaven  and 
earth,  and  gradually  was  let  down,  not  on  the  spear,  but  at  a 
distance.  Then  Abishai  and  David  slew  Ishbi-benob.1 

When  David’s  life  was  run  out,  the  Angel  of  Death  came 
to  fetch  his  soul.  But  David  spent  all  his  time  in  reading 
the  Law.  The  angel  stood  before  him,  and  watched  that  his 
.ips  should  cease  moving,  for  he  might  not  interrupt  him  in 
this  sacred  work.  But  David  made  no  pause.  Then  the  an¬ 
gel  went  into  the-  garden  which  was  Behind  the  house,  and 
shook  violently  one  of  the  trees.  David  heard  the  noise,  and 
turned  his  head,  and  saw  that  the  branches  of  one  of  his  trees 
were  violently  agitated,  but  no  leaf  stirred  on  the  other  trees ; 
so  he  closed  the  book  of  the  Law,  and  went  into  his  garden, 
and  set  a  ladder  against  the  tree  and  ascended  into  it,  that  he 
might  see  what  was  agitating  the  leaves.  ThenThe  angel  with¬ 
drew  the  ladder,  but  David  knew  it  not ;  so  he  fell  and  broke 
his  neck,  and  died.  It  was  the  Sabbath  day.  Then  Solomon 
doubted  what  he  should  do,  for  the  body  of  his  father  was  ex¬ 
posed  to  the  sun,  and  to  the  dogs ;  and  he  did  not  venture  to 
remove  it,  lest  he  should  profane  the  Sabbath ;  so  he  sent  to 
the  Rabbis,  and  said,  “  My  father  is  dead,  and  exposed  to  the 
sun,  and  to  be  devoured  by  dogs  ;  what  shall  I  do  ?  ” 

They  answered,  “  Cast  the  body  of  a  beast  befoi  j  the  dogs, 
and  place  bread  or  a  boy  upon  thy  father,  and  bury  him.” 2 

David  had  such  a  beautiful  voice,  that,  when  he  sang  the 
praises  of  God,  the  birds  came  from  all  quarters  and  surround¬ 
ed  him,  listening  to  his  strains.  The  mountains  even  and  the 
hills  were  moved  at  his  notes.®  He  could  sing  with  a  voice  as 
loud  as  the  most  deafening  peal  of  thunder,  or  warble  as 
sweetly  as  the  tuneful  nightingale. 

1  Talmud,  Tract.  Sanhedrim,  fol.  95,  col  1. 

*  Tract.  Sabbath,  fol.  30,  col.  2. 

3  Tabari,  i.  p.  426  ;  Weil,  p.  208. 

15 


33s 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


He  divided  his  time,  say  the  Mussulmans,  into  three  parts. 
One  day  he  occupied  himself  in  the  affairs  of  his  kingdom, 
the  second  day  he  devoted  to  the  service  of  God,  and  the 
third  day  he  gave  up  to  the  society  of  his  wives. 

As  he  was  going  home  from  prayer,  one  day,  he  heard  two  of 
his  servants  discussing  him  and  comparing  him  with  Abraham. 

“  Was  not  Abraham  saved  from  a  fiery  furnace  ?  ”  asked  one. 

“  Did  not  David  slay  the  giant  Goliath  ?  ”  asked  the  other. 

“  But  what  has  David  done  that  will  compare  with  the 
obedience  of  Abraham,  who  was  ready  to  offer  his  only  son  to 
God  ?  ”  asked  the  first. 

When  David  reached  home,  he  fell  down  before  God  and 
prayed  :  “  Lord  !  Thou  who  didst  give  to  Abraham  a  trial  of 
his  obedience  in  the  pyre,  grant  that  an  opportunity  may  be 
afforded  me  of  proving  before  all  the  people  how  great  also  is 
mine.”  1 

But  others  relate  this  differently.  They  say  that  David 
besought  the  Lord  to  endue  him  with  the  spirit  of  prophecy. 
Then  God  answered,  “  When  I  give  great  gifts,  he  who  receives 
them  must  suffer  great  trials.  I  proved  Abraham  by  the  fire, 
and  by  the  sacrifice  of  one  son,  and  separation  from  others; 
Jacob  by  his  children;  Joseph  by  the  well  and  the  prison  ; 
Moses  by  Pharaoh  ;  Job  by  the  worms.  I  afflicted  all  these, 
but  thee  have  I  not  afflicted.”  But  David  said,  “  O  Lord, 
prove  me  and  try  me  also,  that  I  may  obtain  the  same  degree 
of  celebrity  as  they.”  2 

One  day,  as  David  sang  psalms  before  God  and  the  con¬ 
gregation,  a  beautiful  bird  appeared  at  the  window,  and  it  at¬ 
tracted  his  whole  attention,  so  that  he  could  scarcely  sing. 
David  concluded  his  recitation  of  the  psalms  earlier  than  usu¬ 
al,  and  went  in  pursuit  of  the  bird,  which  led  him  from  bush 
near  to  bush,  and  from  tree  to  tree,  till  it  suddenly  dis¬ 
appeared  near  a  secluded  lake.  Now  this  bird  was  Eblis, 
and  he  came  to  tempt  David  into  evil. 

When  the  bird  vanished,  David  saw  in  the  water  a  beauti¬ 
ful  woman,  bathing,  and  when  she  stood  up,  her  hair  covered 
her  whole  person. 

David  hid  behind  the  bushes,  that  he  might  not  startle  her, 
till  she  was  dressed  ;  then  he  stood  forth,  and  asked  her  her 
name. 


1  Weil,  p.  207. 


2Tabari,  p.  428. 


DA  VI D. 


339 


“  My  name,”  said  she,  “  is  Bathsheba,1  daughter  of  Joshua, 
and  wife  of  Uriah,  son  of  Hanan,  who  is  with  the  army.”  2 

Then  David  departed,  but  his  heart  was  inflamed  with  love, 
and  he  sent*a  message  to  Joab,  the  captain  of  his  host,  to  set 
Uriah  before  the  ark  in  every  battle.  Now  those  who  went 
before  the  ark  must  conquer  or  fall.  Three  times  Uriah  came 
out  of  battle  victorious,  but  the  fourth  time  he  was  killed. 

Then  David  took  Uriah’s  wife  to  his  own  house  and  made 
her  his  own  wife.  And  she  consented  upon  the  condition 
that  should  she  bear  him  a  son,  that  son  was  to  succeed  him 
in  the  kingdom.  Now  David  had,  before  he  married  her  ninety- 
nine  wives.  The  day  after  his  marriage,  Michael  and  Gabriel 
appeared  before  him  in  human  form,  as  he  was  in  his  court, 
and  Gabriel  said  to  him  :  “  This  fellow  here  possesses  ninety 
and  nine  sheep,  but  I  have  only  one,  and  that  I  love,  and 
cherish  in  my  bosom.  This  man  claims  my  little  ewe  lamb, 
and  will  take  it  from  me,  and,  if  I  will  not  give  it  him,  he  says 
that  he  will  slay  me,  and  take  my  lamb  from  me  by  force.” 

Then  David’s  anger  was  kindled  against  Michael,  and  he 
said,  “  Thou  who  hast  so  many  sheep,  wherefore  lustest  thou 
after  the  poor  man’s  ewe  lamb  ?  Thou  hast  an  evil  heart  and 
an  insatiable  spirit.” 

Then  Michael  exclaimed,  “  Thou  hast  given  judgment 
against  thyself  :  what  thou  rebukest  in  this  man,  thou  hast 
allowed  thyself  to  do  !  ”  3 

And  David  knew  that  God  had  sent  His  angels  to  rebuke 
him,  and  he  fell  upon  his  face  to  the  ground.  But,  some  say, 
he  drew  his  sword  and  rushed  upon  Michael  :  then  Gabriel 
held  him  back,  and  said,  “  Thou  didst  ask  to  be  tried  ;  now 
thou  hast  fallen  under  the  temptation.”  4 

Then  the  angels  vanished,  and  David  fell  to  the  ground, 
tore  off  his  purple  robe,  cast  aside  his  golden  crown,  and  wept, 
for  forty  days  and  forty  nights.  And  his  tears  flowed  in  such 

1  The  Arabs  called  her  Saga. 

2  The  story  in  the  Talmud  is  almost  the  same,  with  this  difference; 
Bathsheba  was  washing  herself  behind  a  beehive,  when  the  beautiful  bird 
perched  on  the  hive,  and  David  shot  an  arrow  at  it  and  broke  the  hive, 
and  exposed  Bathsheba  to  view.  In  the  Rabbinic  tale,  David  had  asked 
for  the  gift  of  prophecy,  and  God  told  hm  he  must  be  tried  This  he 
agreed  to,  and  the  temptation  to  adultery  was  that  sent  him.  (Talmud, 
Tract,  Sanhedrim,  fol.  107,  col.  2  ;  Jalkut,  fol.  22,  col.  2). 

3Koran,  Sura,  xxxviii.  4  Weil,  pp.  212,  213. 


S4° 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


abundance,  that  every  now  and  then  he  plunged  a  cup  into 
them  and  drank  it  off. 

At  the  expiration  of  forty  days  Gabriel  came  to  him,  and 
said,  “  The  Lord  salutes  thee  !  ”  But  David  felt  this  was  an 
additional  reproach,  and  he  wept  still  more.  It  is  said  that 
during  the  ensuing  forty  days  and  nights  David  shed  more  tears 
than  Adam  and  all  his  descendants  had,  and  will,  shed  from 
the  day  of  the  Fall  to  the  day  of  the  Resurrection. 

Then  God  sent  Gabriel  to  him  again,  and  Gabriel  said, 
“  The  Lord  salutes  thee  !  ”  But  David  lifted  his  tearful  face 
and  said,  “  O  Gabriel,  what  will  Uriah  say  to  me  on  the  day 
of  the  general  Resurrection  ?  ” 

Gabriel  answered,  “  The  Lord  will  give  him  so  great  an 
inheritance  in  Paradise,  that  he  will  not  have  the  heart  to  re¬ 
proach  thee.” 

Then  David  knew  that  he  was  pardoned,  and  he  rejoiced 
greatly.  But  he  never  forgot  his  sins.  He  wrote  them  on  the 
palm  of  his  hand,  that  he  might  have  them  always  before  him  ; 
therefore  he  says,  “  My  shame  is  ever  before  mine  eyes.” 

Nevertheless  David’s  heart  was  lifted  up  with  pride,  when 
he  considered  that  he  was  a  king,  a  prophet,  and  a  great  gen¬ 
eral.  And  one  day  he  said  to  Nathan,  “  I  think  I  am  perfect, 
J  have  every  thing.” 

“Not  so,”  answered  Nathan,  “thou  exercisest  no  handi¬ 
craft.” 

Then  David  was  ashamed,  and  he  asked  God  to  teach  him 
a  craft ;  and  God  made  him  skilful  in  fabricating  coats  of  mail 
of  rings  twined  together  ;  his  trade  therefore  was  that  of  an  ar¬ 
morer,  and  his  disgrace  was  wiped  away. 

After  his  judgment  between  the  two  angels,  David  had  no 
confidence  in  giving  sentence  in  cases  pleaded  before  him  ; 
therefore  God  sent  him,  by  the  hand  of  Gabriel,  a  reed  of  iron 
and  a  little  bell,  and  the  angel  said  to  him,  “  God  is  pleased 
with  thy  humility,  and  He  has  sent  thee  this  reed  and  this  bell  to 
assist  thee  in  giving  judgment.  Place  this  reed  in  thy  judg¬ 
ment-hall,  and  hang  up  the  bell  in  the  middle,  and  place  the 
accuser  on  one  side,  and  the  accused  on  the  other,  and  give 
sentence  in  favor  of  him  who  makes  the  bell  to  tinkle  when  he 
touches  the  reed.” 

David  was  highly  pleased  with  his  gift,  and  he  gave  such 
righteous  judgment,  that  men  feared,  throughout  the  land,  to 
do  wrong  to  one  another. 


One  day,  two  men  came  before  David,  and  one  said,  “I 
left  a  goodly  pearl  in  the  charge  of  this  man,  and  when  I  asked 
for  it  again,  he  denied  it  me.” 

But  the  other  said,  “  I  have  returned  it  to  him.” 

Then  David  bade  each  lay  his  hand  on  the  reed,  but  the 
bell  gave  the  same  indication  for  both.  Then  David  thought, 
“  They  both  speak  the  truth,  and  yet  that  cannot  be  ;  the  gift 
of  God  must  err.” 

Then  he  bade  the  men  try  again,  and  the  result  was  the 
same.  However,  he  observed  that  the  defendant,  when  he 
went  up  to  the  reed  to  lay  his  hand  upon  it,  gave  his  walking 
staff  to  the  plaintiff  to  hold,  and  this  he  did  each  time,  so  that 
David’s  suspicion  was  awakened,  and  he  took  the  staff,  and 
examined  it,  and  found  that  it  was  hollow,  and  the  stolen  pearl 
was  concealed  in  the  handle.  Thus  the  bell  had  given  right 
judgment,  for  when  the  accused  touched  the  reed,  he  had  re¬ 
turned  the  pearl  into  the  hand  of  the  accuser ;  but  David  by 
his  doubt  in  the  reed  displeased  Him  who  gave  it,  and  the 
reed  and  the  bell  were  taken  from  him. 

After  that,  David  often  gave  wrong  judgment  till  Solo¬ 
mon,  his  son,  was  of  age  to  advise  him. 

One  day  when  Solomon  was  aged  thirteen,  there  came  two 
men  before  the  king.  The  first  said,  “  I  sold  a  house  and 
cellar  to  this  man,  and  on  digging  in  the  cellar  he  found  a 
treasure  hidden  there  by  my  forefathers.  I  sold  him  the  house 
and  cellar  but  not  the  treasure.  Bid  him  restore  to  me  what 
he  has  found. 

But  the  other  said,  “  Not  so.  He  sold  me  the  house,  the 
cellar,  and  all  its  contents.” 

Then  king  David  said,  “  Let  the  treasure  be  divided,  and 
let  half  go  to  one,  and  half  go  to  the  other.” 

But  Solomon  stood  up  and  said  to  the  plaintiff,  “  Hast 
thou  not  a  son  ?  ”  He  said,  “  I  have.” 

Then  said  Solomon  to  the  defendant,  “  Hast  thou  not  a 
daughter?”  He  answered.  “I  have.” 

“Then,”  said  Solomon,  “give"  thy  daughter  to  the  son  of 
this  man  who  sold  thee  the  house,  and  let  the  treasure  go  as 
a  marriage  gift  to  thy  daughter  and  his  son.”  And  all  ap¬ 
plauded  this  judgment. 

On  another  occasion,  a  husbandman  came  before  the  judg¬ 
ment-seat  to  lay  complaint  against  a  herdsman,  whose  sheep 
had  broken  into  his  field,  and  had  pastured  on  his  young  wheat, 


34* 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


Then  King  David  said,  “  Let  some  of  the  sheep  be  given  tc 
the  husbandman.” 

But  Solomon  stood  up,  and  said,  “  Not  so  ;  let  the  husband¬ 
man  have  the  wool,  and  the  milk  of  the  Hock,  till  the  wheat  is 
grown  up  again  as  it  was  before  the  sheep  destroyed  it.” 

And  all  wondered  at  his  wisdom. 

But  the  king’s  elders  and  councillors  were  filled  with  envy, 
because  this  child’s  opinion  was  preferred  before  theirs ;  and 
they  complained  to  King  David. 

Then  David  said,  “  Call  an  assembly  of  the  people,  and 
prove  Solomon  before  them,  whether  he  be  learned  in  the  Law, 
and  whether  he  have  understanding  and  wit.” 

So  the  people  were  assembled,  and  the  elders  took  council 
together  how  they  might  perplex  him  with  hard  questions. 
But  or  ever  they  asked  him,  he  answered  what  they  had 
devised,  and  they  were  greatly  confounded,  so  that  the  people 
supposed  this  was  a  preconcerted  scene  arranged  by  the  king. 
Then,  when  the  elders  were  silenced,  Solomon  turned  to  their 
chief,  and  said,  “  I  too  will  prove  you  with  questions.  What 
you  have  asked  me  have  been  trials  of  my  learning,  but  what 
I  will  ask  you  shall  put  to  proof  the  readiness  of  your  wits. 
What  is  all,  and  what  is  nothing?  What  is  something,  and 
what  is  naught  ?  ” 

The  elder  was  silent ;  he  thought,  but  he  knew  not  what 
was  the  answer.  And  all  the  people  perplexed  themselves  to 
discover  the  riddle,  but  they  could  not.  Then  said  Solomon, 
“  God  is  all,  and  the  world  He  made  is  as  nothing  before  Him. 
The  faithful  is  something,  but  the  hypocrite  is  naught.” 

Thereupon  he  turned  to  a  second,  and  he  said  :  “  What  are 
most  and  what  are  fewest  ?  What  is  the  sweetest,  and  what 
is  the  bitterest  ?  ”  But  when  the  second  could  find  no  solution 
to  these  questions,  Solomon  answered,  “  Most  men  are  unbe¬ 
lievers,  the  fewest  have  true  faith.  The  sweetest  thing  is  the 
possession  of  a  virtuous  wife,  good  children,  and  a  competence  ; 
the  bitterest  thing  is  to  have  a  disreputable  wife,  disorderly 
children,  and  penury.” 

Then  Solomon  turned  to  a  third  elder  and  asked  :  “  What 
is  the  most  odious  sight,  and  what  is  the  most  beautiful  sight  ? 
What  is  the  surest  thing,  and  what  is  that  which  is  most 
insecure  ?  ” 

And  when  this  elder  also  was  unable  to  give  an  answer, 
Solomon  interpreted  his  riddle  once  more,  “  The  most  odious 


DA  VID. 


343 


sight  is  to  see  a  righteous  man  fall  away  \  the  most  beautiful 
sight  is  to  see  a  sinner  repent  The  surest  thing  is  death,  the 
most  insecure  thing  is  life.''  After  that  Solomon  said  to  all 
the  people,  “Ye  see  *hat  the  oldest  and  the  most  learned  men 
are  not  always  the  wisest  True  wisdom  comes  not  with 
years,  nor  is  derived  from  books,  but  is  a  gift  of  God  the  All- 
wise.” 

Solomon  by  his  words  threw  the  whole  assembly  into  as¬ 
tonishment,  and  all  the  heads  of  the  people  cried  with  one 
voice,  “  Praised  be  the  Lord,  who  has  given  to  our  king  a  son 
who  surpasses  all  in  wisdom,  and  who  is  worthy  to  ascend 
the  throne  of  his  father  David.” 

And  David  thanked  God  that  He  had  given  him  such  a 
wrise  son,  and  now  he  desired  but  one  thing  further  of  God, 
and  that  was  to  see  him  who  wras  to  be  his  companion  in  Par¬ 
adise  ;  for  to  every  man  is  allotted  by  God  one  man  to  be  his 
friend  and  comrade  in  the  Land  of  Bliss. 

So  David  prayed  to  God,  and  his  prayer  was  heard,  and  a 
voice  fell  from  heaven  and  bade  him  confer  the  kingdom  upon 
his  son  Solomon,  and  then  to  go  forth,  and  the  Lord  would 
lead  him  to  the  place  where  his  companion  dwelt. 

David  therefore  had  his  son  Solomon  crowned  king,  and 
then  he  went  forth  out  of  Jerusalem,  and  he  was  in  pilgrim’s 
garb,  with  a  staff  in  his  hand ;  and  he  wrent  from  city  to  city, 
and  from  village  to  village,  but  he  found  not  the  man  whom 
he  sought.  One  day,  after  the  lapse  of  many  weeks,  he  drew 
near  to  a  village  upon  the  borders  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea, 
and  alongside  of  him  walked  a  poorly  dressed  man  laden  w'ith 
a  heavy  bundle  of  fagots.  This  man  was  very  old  and  rever¬ 
end  of  aspect,  and  David  watched  him.  He  saw  him  dispose 
of  his  wood  and  then  give  half  the  money  he  had  obtained  by 
the  sale  of  it  to  a  poor  person.  After  that  he  bought  a  piece 
of  bread  and  retired  from  the  town.  As  he  went,  there  passed 
a  blind  woman,  and  the  old  man  broke  his  bread  in  half,  and 
gave  one  portion  to  the  woman  ;  and  he  continued  his  course 
till  he  reached  the  mountains  from  which  he  had  brought  his 
load  in  the  morning. 

David  thought,  “This  man  well  deserves  to  be  my  com¬ 
panion  for  eternity,  for  he  is  pious,  charitable,  and  reverend 
of  aspect :  I  must  ask  his  name.” 

He  went  after  the  old  man,  and  he  found  him  in  a  cave 
among  the  rocks,  which  was  lighted  by  a  rent  above.  David 


344 


OLD  TESTA  MR  K  T  CHARACTERS. 


stood  without  and  heard  the  hermit  pray,  and  read  the  Tora 
and  the  Psalms,  till  the  sun  went  down.  Then  he  lighted  a 
lamp  and  began  his  evening  prayers;  and  when  they  were 
finished,  he  drew  forth  the  piece  of  bread,  and  ate  the  half 
of  it 

David,  who  had  not  ventured  to  interrupt  the  devotions  of 
the  old  hermit,  nowT  entered  the  cave  and  saluted  him. 

The  hermit  asked,  “Who  art  thou?  I  have  seen  no  man 
here  before,  save  only  Mata,  son  of  Johanna,  the  companion 
destined  to  King  David  in  Paradise.” 

David  told  his  name,  and  asked  after  this  Mata.  But  the 
aged  man  could  give  him  no  information  of  his  whereabouts. 
“But,”  said  he,  “go  over  these  mountains,  and  observe  well 
what  thou  lightest  upon,  and  it  may  be  thou  wilt  find  Mata.” 

David  thanked  him,  and  continued  his  search.  For  long  it 
was  profitless.  He  traversed  the  stony  dales  and  the  barren 
mountains,  and  saw  no  trace  of  human  foot.  At  last,  just  as 
hope  was  abandoning  him,  on  the  summit  of  a  nigged  peak  he 
saw  a  wet  spot.  Then  he  stood  still  in  surprise.  “  How 
comes  there  to  be  a  patch  of  soft  and  sloppy  ground  here  ?  ” 
he  asked  ;  “  the  topmost  peak  of  a  stony  mountain  is  not  the 
place  where  springs  bubble  up.” 

As  he  thus  mused,  an  aged  man  came  up  the  other  side  of 
the  mountain.  His  eyes  were  depressed  to  the  earth,  so  that 
he  saw  not  David.  And  when  he  came  to  the  wet  patch,  he 
stood  still,  and  prayed  with  such  fervor,  that  rivulets  of  tears 
flowed  out  of  his  eyes,  and  sank  into  the  soil ;  and  thus  David 
learnt  how  it  was  that  the  mountain-top  was  wet. 

Then  David  thought,  “  Surely  this  man,  whose  eyes  are 
such  copious  fountains  of  tears,  must  be  my  companion  in 
Paradise.” 

Yet  he  ventured  not  to  interrupt  him  in  his  prayer,  till  he 
heard  him  ask,  “  O  my  God  !  pardon  King  David  his  sins,  and 
save  him  from  further  trespass  !  for  my  sake  be  merciful  to 
him,  for  Thou  hast  destined  him  to  be  my  comrade  for  all 
eternity  !  ” 

Then  David  ran  towards  him,  but  the  old  man  totttered  and 
fell,  and  before  the  king  reached  him  he  was  dead. 

So  David  dug  into  the  ground  which  had  been  moistened 
by  the  tears  of  Mata,  and  laid  him  there,  and  said  the  funeral 
prayer  over  him,  and  covered  him  with  the  earth,  and  then 
returned  to  Jerusalem. 


DA  VI D; 


345 


And  when  he  came  into  his  harem,  the  Angel  of  Death 
stood  there  and  greeted  him  with  the  words,  “  God  has  heard 
thy  supplications  ;  now  has  thy  life  reached  its  end.” 

Then  David  said,  “  The  Lord’s  will  be  done  !  ”  and  he  fell 
down  upon  the  ground,  and  expired. 

Gabriel  descended  to  comfort  Solomon,  and  to  give  him 
a  heavenly  shroud  in  which  to  wrap  David.  And  all  Israel 
followed  the  bier  to  Machpelah,  where  Solomon  laid  him  by 
the  side  of  Abraham  and  Joseph.1 

It  will  doubtless  interest  the  reader  to  have  an  English 
version  of  the  Psalm  supposed  to  have  been  composed1-  by 
David  after  the  slaying  of  Goliath,  which  is  not  included  t 
the  Psalter,  as  it  is  supposed  to  be  apocryphal. 


Psalm  CLI.  (Pusillus  eram). 

1.  I  was  small  among  my  brethren  ;  and  growing  up  in  my 
father’s  house,  I  kept  my  father’s  sheep. 

2.  My  hands  made  the  organ  :  and  my  fingers  shaped  the 
psaltery. 

3.  And  who  declared  unto  my  Lord  1  He,  the  Lord,  He 
heard  all  things. 

4.  He  sent  His  angel,  and  He  took  me  from  my  father’s 
sheep  ;  He  anointed  me  in  mercy  with  His  unction. 

5.  Great  and  goodly  are  my  brethren :  but  with  them 
the  Lord  was  not  well  pleased. 

6.  I  went  to  meet  the  stranger :  and  he  cursed  me  by  all 
his  idols. 

7.  But  I  smote  off  his  head  with  his  own  drawn  sword: 
and  I  blotted  out  the  reproach  of  Israel. 

This  simple  and  beautiful  psalm  does  not  exist  in  Hebrew, 
but  is  found  in  Greek,  in  some  psalters  of  the  Septuagint  ver¬ 
sion,  headed  “  A  Psalm  of  David  when  he  had  slain  Goliath.’1 
S.  Athanasius  mentions  it  with  praise,  in  his  address  to  Mar- 
cellinus  on  the  Interpretation  of  the  Psalms,  and  in  the 
Synopsis  of  Holy  Sc-ripture.  It  was  versified  in  Greek  in 
A.  D.  360,  by  Apollinarius  Alexandrinus.* 

The  subjoined  shield  of  David  is  given  in  a  Hebrew  book 

1  Weil.  pp.  213-224. 

*  Greek  text,  and  Latin  translation  in  Fabricus  :  Pseudigr.  Vet.  Test 
t.  ii.  pp.  905-7. 

IS* 


34* 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


on  the  properties  and  medicaments  of  things,  it  is  said  to 
be  a  certain  protection  against  fire.  A  cake  of  bread  must  be 
made,  and  on  it  must  be  impressed  the  seal  or  shield  of  David, 
having  in  the  corner  the  word  “p and  in  the  middle  JO  3N 
(Thou  art  mighty  to  everlasting,  O  Jehovah)  ;  and  it  must  be 


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cast  aside  into  the  fire  with  the  woids  of  Psalm  cvi.  30, 
“  Then  stood  up  Phinees  and prayed  ;  and  so  the  plague  ceased 
and  also  Exod.  xii.  27,  “  It  is  the  sacrifice  of  the  Lord's  pass * 
07>er,  who  passed  over  the  houses  of  the  children  of  I\raa 


SOLOMON. 


14? 


in  Egypt ,  when  He  smote  the  Egyptians ,  and  delivered  cur 
homes.”  1 


XXXVHL 

SOLOMON.* 

I.  HOW  SOLOMON  OBTAINED  POWER. 

After  Solomon  had  executed  the  last  offices  for  his  father, 
he  rested  in  a  dale  betwixt  Hebron  and  Jerusalem,  and  fella- 
sleep.  As  he  returned  to  himself,  there  stood  before  him  eight 
angels,  each  with  countless  wings,  diverse  in  kinds  and  col¬ 
ors  ;  and  the  angels  bowed  themselves  before  him  three  times. 

“Who  are  ye?”  asked  Solomon,  with  eyes  still  closed. 

“We  are  the  angels  ruling  over  the  eight  winds  of  heaven,” 
was  their  reply.  “  God  hath  sent  us  to  give  thee  dominion  over 
ourselves  and  over  the  winds  subject  to  us.  They  will  storm 
and  bluster,  or  breathe  softly,  at  thy  pleasure.  At  thy  com¬ 
mand  they  will  swroop  down  on  earth,  and  bear  thee  over  the 
highest  mountains.” 

The  greatest  of  the  angels  gave  him  a  jewel  inscribed  with 
“  God  is  Power  and  Greatness,”  and  said,  “  When  thou  hast  a 
command  for  us,  then  raise  this  stone  towards  heaven,  and  we 
shall  appear  before  thee  as  thy  servants.” 

When  these  angels  had  taken  their  departure,  there  appeared 
four  more,  of  whom  each  was  unlike  the  other.  One  was  in 
fashion  as  a  great  whale,  another  as  an  eagle,  the  third  as  a 
lion,  and  the  fourth  a^  a  serpent.  And  they  said,  “  We  are 
they  who  rule  over  all  the  creatures  that  move  in  the  earth, 
and  air,  and  water ;  and  God  hath  sent  us  to  give  thee  domin¬ 
ion  over  all  creatures,  that  they  may  serve  thee  and  thy 
friends  with  all  good,  and  fight  against  thine  enemies  with  all 
their  force.” 

The  angel  who  ruled  over  the  winged  fowls  extended  to 
Solomon  a  precious  stone,  with  the  insci  iption,  “  Let  all 
creatures  praise  the  Lord  !  ”  and  said,  “  By  virtue  of  this  stone, 
raised  above  thy  head,  canst  thou  call  us  to  thy  assistance,  and 
to  fulfil  thy  desire.” 

1  mfiCtpl  m^O  ;  Arast.  1703. 

*  Solomon  was  twelve  years  old  when  he  succeeded  David.  (Abulfeda, 
;  Bartolocci,  iv.  p.  371.) 


348 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


Solomon  immediately  ordered  the  angels  to  bring  before 
him  a  pair  of  every  living  creature  that  moves  in  the  water, 
flies  in  the  air,  and  walks  or  glides  or  creeps  on  the  earth. 

The  angels  vanished,  and  in  an  instant  they  were  before 
Solomon  once  more,  and  there  were  assembled  in  his  sight 
pairs  of  every  creature,  from  the  elephant  to  the  smallest  fly. 

Solomon  conversed  with  the  angels,  and  was  instructed  by 
them  in  the  habits,  virtues,  and  names  of  all  living  creatures ; 
he  listened  to  the  complaints  of  the  beasts,  birds,  and  fishes, 
and  by  his  wisdom  he  rectified  many  evil  customs  among 
them. 

He  entertained  himself  longest  with  the  birds,  both  on 
account  of  their  beautiful  speech,  which  he  understood,  and 
also  because  of  the  wise  sentences  which  they  uttered. 

This  is  the  signification  of  the  cry  of  the  peacock  :  “  With 
what  measure  thou  judgest  others,  thou  shalt  thyself  be 
judged.” 

This  is  the  song  of  the  nightingale :  “  Contentment  is  the 
greatest  happiness.” 

The  turtle  dove  calls,  “Better  were  it  for  some  created 
things  that  they  had  never  been  created.” 

The  peewit  pipes,  “  He  that  hath  no  mercy,  will  not  find 
mercy  himself.” 

The  bird  syrdar  cries,  "  Turn  to  the  Lord,  ye  sinners !  ” 

The  swallow  screams,  “  Do  good,  and  ye  shall  receive 
reward.” 

This  is  the  pelican’s  note :  “  Praise  the  Lord  in  heaven 
and  earth.” 

The  dove  chants,  “The  fashion  of  this  world  passeth 
away,  but  God  remaineth  eternal.” 

The  kata  says,  “  Silence  is  the  best  safeguard.” 

The  cry  of  the  eagle  is,  “  However  long  life  may  be,  yet 
its  inevitable  term  is  death.” 

The  croak  of  the  raven  is,  “  The  further  from  man,  the 
happier  I.” 

The  cock  crows  before  the  dawn  and  in  the  day,  “  Remem¬ 
ber  thy  Creator,  O  thoughtless  man !  ” 

Solomon  chose  the  cock  and  the  peewit  to  be  his  constant 
companions — the  first  because  of  its  cry,  and  the  second  be¬ 
cause  it  can  see  through  the  earth  as  through  glass,  and  could 
therefore  tell  him  where  fountains  of  water  were  to  be  found. 

After  he  had  stroked  the1  dove,  he  bade  her  dwell  with  her 


SOLOMON. 


349 


young  in  the  temple  he  was  about  to  build  to  the  honor  of  the 
Most  High.  This  pair  of  doves,  in  a  few  years,  multiplied  to 
such  an  extent,  that  all  who  sought  the  temple  moved  through 
the  quarter  of  the  town  it  occupied  under  the  shadow  of  the 
wings  of  doves. 

When  Solomon  was  again  alone,  an  angel  appeared  to  him, 
whose  upper  half  was  like  to  earth,  and  whose  lower  half  was 
like  to  water.  He  bowed  himself  before  the  king,  and  said, 
“I  am  created  by  God  to  do  His  will  on  the  dry  land  and  in 
the  watery  sea.  Now,  God  has  sent  me  to  serve  thee,  and  thou 
canst  rule  over  earth  and  water.  At  thy  command  the  highest 
mountains  will  be  made  plain,  and  the  level  land  will  rise  into 
steep  heights.  Rivers  and  seas  will  dry  up,  and  the  desert  will 
stream  with  water  at  thy  command.”  Then  he  gave  to  him  a 
precious  stone,  with  the  legend  engraved  thereon,  “  Heaven 
and  earth  serve  God.” 

Finally,  an  angel  presented  to  him  another  stone,  whereon 
was  cut,  “  There  is  no  God  save  God,  and  Mohammed  is  the 
messenger  of  God.” 

“  By  means  of  this  stone,”  said  the  angel,  “  thou  shalt 
have  dominion  over  the  whole  world  of  spirits,  which  is  far 
greater  than  that  of  men  and  beasts,  and  occupies  the  space 
between  earth  and  heaven.  One  portion  of  the  spirits  is  faith¬ 
ful,  and  praises  the  One  only  God ;  the  other  portion  is  un¬ 
faithful  :  some  adore  fire,  others  the  sun,  others  worship  the 
planets,  many  revere  winter.  The  good  spirits  surround  the 
true  believers  among  men,  and  protect  them  from  all  evil ;  the 
evil  spirits  seek  to  injure  them  and  deceive  them.” 

Solomon  asked  to  see  the  Jinns  in  their  natural  and  orig¬ 
inal  shape.  The  angel  sho*  ake  a  column  of  flame  into  heav¬ 
en,  and  shortly  returned  with  the  Satans  and  Jinns  in  great 
hosts  :  and  Solomon,  though  he  had  power  over  them,  shud¬ 
dered  with  disgust  at  their  loathsome  appearance.  He  saw 
men’s  heads  attached  to  the  necks  of  horses,  whose  feet  were 
those  of  an  ass  ;  the  wings  of  an  eagle  attached  to  the  hump 
of  a  dromedary ;  the  horns  of  a  gazelle  on  the  head  of  a  pea¬ 
cock.1 


2.  HOW  SOLOMON  FEASTED  ALL  FLESH. 

When  Solomon  returned  home,  he  placed  the  four  stones, 
which  the  angels  had  given  him,  in  a  ring,  so  that  he  might  at 

1  Weil,  pp.  225-231  ;  Eisenmenger,  p.  440,  etc. 


35° 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS . 


any  moment  exercise  his  authority  over  the  realms  of  spirits 
and  beasts,  the  earth,  the  winds  and  the  sea. 

His  first  care  was  to  subject  the  Jinns.  He  made  them  all 
appear  before  him,  with  the  exception  of  the  mighty  Sachr, 
who  kept  himself  in  concealment  on  an  unknown  island  in 
the  ocean,  and  the  great  Fblis,  the  master  of  all  evil  spirits,  to 
whom  God  had  promised  complete  liberty  till  the  day  of  the 
last  judgment. 

When  all  the  demons  were  assembled,  Solomon  pressed  his 
seal  upon  their  necks  to  mark  them  as  his  slaves.  Then  he 
commanded  all  the  male  Jinns  to  collect  every  sort  of  material 
for  the  construction  of  the  temple  he  was  about  to  build.  He 
bade  also  the  female  Jinns  cook,  bake,  wash,  weave,  and  car ry 
water  ;  and  what  they  made,  he  distributed  amongst  the  poor. 
The  meats  they  cooked  w^ere  placed  on  tables  which  covered 
an  area  of  four  square  miles ;  and  daily  thirty  thousand  por¬ 
tions  of  beef,  as  many  portions  of  mutton,  and  very  many  birds 
and  fishes  were  devoured.  The  Jinns  and  devils  sat  at  iron 
tables,  the  poor  at  tables  of  wood,  the  heads  of  the  people  at 
silver  tables,  the  wise  and  pious  at  tables  of  gold  ;  and  these 
latter  were  served  by  Solomon  in  person. 

One  day,  when  all  spirits,  men,  beasts,  and  birds  rose  satis¬ 
fied  from  the  tables,  Solomon  besought  God  to  permit  him  to 
feed  to  the  full  all  created  animals  at  once.  God  replied  that 
he  demanded  an  impossibility.  “  But,”  said  he,  “try  to-mor¬ 
row  what  thou  canst  do  to  satisfy  the  dwellers  of  the  sea.” 

On  the  morrow,  accordingly,  Solomon  bade  the  Jinns  lade 
a  hundred  thousand  camels  and  the  same  number  of  mules 
writh  corn,  and  lead  them  to  the  sea-shore.  He  then  cried  to 
the  fishes  and  said :  “  Come,  ye  dwellers  in  the  wrater,  eat  and 
be  satisfied  !  ” 

Then  came  all  manner  of  fishes  to  the  surface  of  the  water, 
and  Solomon  cast  the  corn  to  them,  and  they  ate  and  wrere 
satisfied,  and  dived  out  of  sight.  But  all  at  once  a  whale 
lifted  his  head  above  the  surface,  and  it  was  like  a  mountain. 
Solomon  bade  the  spirits  pour  one  sack  of  corn  after  another 
down  the  throat  of  the  monster,  till  all  the  store  was  exhausted, 
there  remained  not  a  single  grain.  But  the  whale  cried,  “  Feed 
me,  Solomon !  feed  me  !  never  have  I  suffered  from  hunger  as 
I  have  this  day !  ” 

Solomon  asked  the  whale  if  there  were  any  more  in  the 
deep  like  him.  The  fish  answered:  “There  are  of  my  race  as 


SOLOMON. 


35s 


many  as  a  thousand  kinds,  and  the  smallest  is  so  large  that  thou 
wouldst  seem  in  its  belly  to  be  but  a  sand-grain  in  the  desert.” 

Solomon  cast  himself  upon  the  earth,  and  began  to  weep, 
and  prayed  to  God  to  pardon  him  for  his  presumption. 

u  My  kingdom,”  called  to  him  the  Most  High,  “  is  far  great¬ 
er  than  thine.  Stand  up,  and  behold  one  creature  over  which 
no  man  has  yet  obtained  the  mastery.” 

Then  the  sea  began  to  foam  and  toss,  as  though  churned 
by  the  eight  winds  raging  against  it,  and  out  of  the  tumbling 
brine  rose  the  Leviathan,  so  great  that  it  could  easily  have 
swallowed  seven  thousand  whales  such  as  that  which  Solomon 
had  attempted  to  feed ;  and  the  Leviathan  cried,  with  a  voice 
ike  the  roar  of  thunder :  “  Praised  be  God,  who  by  His  mighty 
power  preserves  me  from  perishing  by  hunger.”  1 


3.  THE  BUILDING  OF  THE  TEMPLE.* 

M’dien  Solomon  returned  from  the  sea-shore  to  Jerusalem, 
he  heard  the  noise  of  the  hammers,  and  saws,  and  axes  of 
the  Jinns  who  were  engaged  in  the  building  of  the  temple  ; 
and  the  noise  was  so  great  that  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem 
could  not  hear  one  another  speak.  Therefore  he  commanded 
the  Jinns  to  cease  from  their  work,  and  he  asked  them  if  there 
was  no  means  whereby  the  metals  and  stones  could  be  shaped 
and  cut  without  making  so  much  noise. 

Then  one  of  the  spirits  stepped  forth  and  said  :  “  The 
means  is  known  only  to  the  mighty  Sachr,  who  has  hitherto 
escaped  your  authority.” 

“  Is  it  impossible  to  capture  this  Sachr  ?  ”  asked  Solomon. 

“  Sachr,”  replied  the  Jinn,  “is  stronger  than  all  the  rest 
of  us  together,  and  he  excels  us  in  speed  as  he  does  in  strength. 
However,  I  know  that  once  every  month  he  goes  to  drink  of 
a  fountain  in  the  land  of  Hidjr;  by  this,  O  king,  thou  inayest 
be  able  to  bring  him  under  thy  sceptre.” 

Solomon,  thereupon,  commanded  a  Jinn  to  fiy  to  Hidjr- 
and  to  empty  the  well  of  water,  and  to  fill  it  up  with  strong 


1  Weil,  pp.  831-4. 

’The  story  of  the  building  of  tne  temple,  with  the  assistance  of  Kcha 
mir.  has  been  already  related  by  me  in  my  “  Curious  Myths  of  the  Middi* 


352  OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 

wine.  He  bade  other  Jinns  remain  in  ambush  beside  the 
well  and  watch  the  result. 1 

After  some  weeks,  when  Solomon  was  pacing  his  terrace 
before  his  palace,  he  saw  a  Jinn  flying,  swifter  than  the  wind, 
from  the  direction  of  Hidjr,  and  he  asked,  “  What  news  of 
Sachr  ?  ” 

“  Sachr  lies  drunk  on  the  edge  of  the  fountain,”  said  the 
Jinn  ;  and  we  have  bound  him  with  chains  as  thick  as  the 
pillars  of  the  temple  ;  nevertheless,  he  will  snap  them  as  the 
hair  of  a  maiden,  when  he  wakes  from  his  drunken  sleep.” 

Solomon  instantly  mounted  the  winged  Jinn  and  bade  him 
transport  him  to  the  well  at  Hidjr.  In  less  than  an  hour  he 
stood  beside  the  intoxicated  demon.  He  was  not  a  moment 
too  soon,  for  the  fumes  of  the  wine  were  passing  off,  and,  if 
Sachr  had  opened  his  eyes,  Solomon  would  have  been  unable 
to  constrain  him.  But  now  he  pressed  his  signet  upon  the 
nape  of  his  neck  :  Sachr  uttered  a  cry  so  that  the  earth 
rocked  on  its  foundations. 

“  Fear  not,”  said  Solomon,  “  mighty  Jinn  ;  I  will  restore 
thee  to  liberty  if  thou  wilt  tell  me  how  I  may  without  noise 
cut  and  shape  the  hardest  metals.” 

“  I  myself  know  no  means,”  answered  the  demon  ;  “  but, 
the  raven  can  tell  thee  how  to  do  this.  Take  the  eggs  out  of 
the  raven’s  nest  and  place  a  crystal  cover  upon  them,  and 
thou  shalt  see  how  the  raven  will  break  it.” 

Solomon  followed  the  advice  of  Sachr.  A  raven  came, 
and  fluttered  some  time  round  the  cover,  and  seeing  that  she 
could  not  reach  her  eggs,  she  vanished,  and  returned  shortly 
with  a  stone  in  her  beak,  named  Samur  or  Schamir ;  and  no 
sooner  had  she  touched  the  crystal  therewith,  than  it  clave 
asunder. 

“  Whence  hast  thou  this  stone  ?  ”  asked  Solomon  of  the 
raven. 

“  It  comes  from  a  mountain  in  the  far  west,”  replied  the 
bird. 

Solomon  commanded  a  Jinn  to  follow  the  raven  to  the 
mountain,  and  to  bring  him  more  of  these  stones.  Then 

1  The  Rabbinic  story  and  the  Mussulman  are  precisely  the  same,  with 
the  difference  that  Benaiah,  the  son  of  Jehoiada,  instead  of  the  Jinns,  lies 
in  ambush  and  captures  Sachr  or  Aschmedai  (Asmodeus).  (Eisenmenger, 
i.  351-8.)  As  I  have  given  the  Jewish  version  in  my  “Curious  Myths  of 
the  Middle  Ages,”  I  give  the  Arab  story  here. 


SOLOMON. 


353 


he  released  Sachr  as  he  had  promised.  When  the  chains 
were  taken  off  him,  he  uttered  a  loud  cry  of  joy,  which  in  Sol¬ 
omon’s  ears,  bore  an  ominous  sound  as  of  mocking  laughter. 

When  the  Jinn  returned  with  the  stone  Schamir,  Solomon 
mounted  a  Jinn  and  was  borne  back  to  Jerusalem,  where  he 
distributed  the  stones  amongst  the  Jinns,  and  they  were  able 
to  cut  the  rocks  for  the  temple  without  noise.1 

Solomon  also  made  an  ark  of  the  covenant  ten  ells  square, 
and  he  sought  to  bring  it  into  the  Holy  of  Holies  that  he  had 
made ;  and  when  he  sought  to  bring  the  ark  through  the  door 
of  the  temple,  the  door  was  ten  ells  wide.  Now,  that  was  the 
width  of  the  ark,  and  ten  ells  will  not  go  through  ten  ells 
Then,  when  Solomon  saw  that  the  ark  would  not  pass  through 
the  door,  he  was  ashamed  and  cried,  “  Lift  up  your  heads,  O 
ye  gates,  and  the  King  of  Glory  shall  come  in !  ”  Then  the 
gates  tottered,  and  would  have  fallen  on  his  head  to  punish 
what  they  supposed  to  be  a  blasphemy,  for  the  doors  thought 
that  by  “  the  King  of  Glory  ”  he  meant  himself;  and  they  cried 
to  him  in  anger,  “  Who  is  the  King  of  glory  ?  ”  and  he  answered, 
“  It  is  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  He  is  the  King  of  Glory.”  And  be¬ 
cause  the  doors  were  so  zealous  for  the  honor  of  God,  the  Lord 
promised  them  that  they  should  never  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemies  of  Israel.  Therefore,  when  the  temple  was  burnt  and 
the  treasures  were  carried  into  Babylon,  the  gates  sank  into 
the  earth  and  vanished.  And  to  this  the  prophet  Jeremiah 
refers  (Lament,  ii.  9).* 

Solomon  also  built  him  a  palace,  with  great  riches  in  gold, 
and  silver,  and  precious  stones,  like  no  king  that  was  before 
him.  Many  of  the  halls  had  crystal  floors,  and  crystal  roofs. 
He  had  a  fountain  of  liquid  brass.3  He  had  also  a  carpet  five 
hundred  parasangs  in  length ;  and  whenever  the  carpet  was 
spread,  three  hundred  thrones  of  gold  and  silver  were  placed 
on  it,  and  Solomon  bade  the  birds  of  the  air  spread  their  wings 
over  them  for  a  shade.4  He  built  a  throne  for  himself  of  san¬ 
dal  wood,  encrusted  with  gold  and  precious  stones. 

4.  THE  TRAVELS  OF  SOLOMON. 

vVhilst  the  palace  was  being  built,  Soiomon  made  a  journey 
to  Damascus.  The  Jinn,  on  whose  back  he  flew,  carried  him 

1  Weil,  pp.  234-7  ;  Talmud,  Tract.  Gittin.  fol.  68,  cols.  1,  2. 

*  Jalkut  Schimoni,  fol.  90,  coL  4.  Tabari,  i.  p.  435* 

4  Tabari,  i.  p.  436. 


354' 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


directly  cvei  the  valley  of  ants,  which  is  surrounded  by  such 
crags  and  precipices,  that  no  man  had  hitherto  seen  it.  The 
king  was  much  astonished  to  see  such  a  host  of  ants  under 
him,  which  were  as  big  as  wolves,  and  which,  on  account  of 
their  grey  eyes  and  grey  feet,  looked  from  a  distance  like  a 
cloud.  The  queen  of  the  ants,  who,  till  this  moment,  had  not 
seen  a  man,  was  filled  with  fear  when  she  beheld  Solomon, 
and  she  cried  to  her  host,  “  Hie  to  your  holes,  fly  !  ” 

But  God  commanded  her  not  to  fear,  and  to  summon  all 
her  subjects,  and  to  anoint  Solomon  king  of  all  insects.  Sol¬ 
omon,  who  heard  the  words  of  God,  and  the  answer  of  the 
queen  from  a  distance  of  many  miles,  borne  to  him  upon  the 
wind,  descended  into  the  valley  beside  the  queen.  Immedi¬ 
ately  the  whole  valley  was  filled  with  ants,  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  see. 

Solomon  asked  the  queen,  u  Why  didst  thou  fear  me,  being 
surrounded  with  such  a  countless  and  mighty  host  ?  ” 

“  I  fear  God  alone,”  answered  the  queen ;  “  If  any  danger 
were  to  threaten  my  subjects,  at  a  sign  from  me  seven  times  as 
many  would  instantly  appear.” 

“  Wherefore  then  didst  thou  command  the  ants  to  fly  to 
their  holes  when  I  appeared  ?  ” 

“  Because  I  feared  they  would  look  with  wonder  and  rever¬ 
ence  on  thee,  and  thereby  for  a  moment  forget  their  Creator.” 
“  1  am  greater  than  thou,”  added  the  queen  of  the  ants. 

“  How  so  ?  ”  asked  Solomon  in  surprise. 

“  Because  thou  hast  a  metal  throne,  but  my  throne  is  thy 
hand,  on  which  I  now  repose,”  said  the  ant. 

“  Before  I  leave  thee,  hast  thou  no  word  to  say  to  me  ?  ” 

“  I  ask  nothing  of  thee,  but  I  give  thee  a  piece  of  advice 
As  long  as  thou  livest,  give  not  occasion  to  be  ashamed  of  th) 
name,  which  signifies  The  blameless.  Beware  also  never  to  give 
the  ring  from  thy  finger,  without  saying  first,  ‘  In  the  name  of 
the  God  of  all  mercy.’  ” 

Solomon  exclaimed,  “  Lord  !  Thy  kingdom  exceeds  and 
excels  mine  !  ”  and  he  bade  farewell  to  the  queen  of  the  ants.1 

After  Solomon  had  visited  Damascus,  he  returned  anothei 
way,  so  as  not  to  disturb  the  ants  in  their  pious  contemplation 
As  he  returned,  he  heard  a  cry  on  the  wind,  “  O  God  of  Abra¬ 
ham,  release  me  from  life  1  ”  Solomon  hastened  in  the  direo 


1  Koran,  Sura  xxvii. ;  Tabari,  i.  c.  xxviii.;  Weil,  pp.  237-9. 


SOLOMON. 


355 


tion  of  the  voice,  and  found  a  very  aged  man,  who  said  he  was 
more  than  three  hundred  years  old,  and  that  he  had  asked 
God  to  suffer  him  to  live,  till  there  arose  a  mighty  prophet  in 
the  land. 

“  I  am  that  prophet,”  said  Solomon.  Then  the  Angel  of 
Death  caught  away  the  old  man’s  soul. 

Solomon  exclaimed,  “  Thou  must  have  been  beside  me,  to 
have  acted  with  such  speed,  thou  Angel  of  Death.” 

But  the  Angel  answered,  “Great  is  thy  mistake.  Know 
(hat  I  stand  on  the  shoulders  of  an  angel,  whose  head  reaches 
ten  thousand  years’  journey  above  the  seventh  heaven,  and 
whose  feet  are  five  hundred  years’  journey  beneath  the  earth. 
He  it  is  who  tells  me  when  I  am  to  fetch  a  soul.  His  eyes 
are  ever  fixed  on  the  tree  Sidrat  Almuntaha,  which  bears  as 
many  leaves  as  there  are  living  men  in  the  world  ;  when  a  man 
is  born,  a  new  leaf  buds  out ;  when  a  man  is  about  to  die,  the 
leaf  fades,  and  at  his  death,  falls  of ;  and,  when  the  leaf 
withers,  I  fly  to  fetch  the  soul,  the  name  of  which  is  inscribed 
upon  the  leaf.” 

“  And  what  doest  thou  then  ?  ” 

“  Gabriel  accompanies  me,  as  often  as  one  of  the  believers 
dies  ;  his  soul  is  wrapped  in  a  green  silk  cloth,  and  is  breathed 
into  a  green  bird,  which  feeds  in  Paradise  till  the  end  of  time. 
But  the  soul  of  the  sinner  is  carried  by  me  in  a  tarred  cloth 
to  the  gates  of  hell,  where  it  wanders  in  misery  till  the  last 
day.” 

Then  Solomon  washed  the  body  of  the  dead  man,  buried 
him,  and  prayed  for  his  soul,  that  it  might  be  eased  of  the 
pains  it  would  have  to  undergo  during  its  purgation  by  the 
angels  Ankir  and  Munkir.1 

This  journey  had  so  exhausted  Solomon,  that  on  his  return 
to  Jerusalem  he  ordered  the  Jinns  to  weave  him  stout  silk 
carpets  on  which  he  and  all  his  servants,  his  throne,  tables,  and 
kitchen  could  be  accommodated.  When  he  wanted  to  go  a 
journey,  he  ordered  the  winds  to  blow,  and  raise  the  carpet 
\ith  all  that  was  on  it,  and  waft  it  whither  he  desired  to  travel. 

One  night,  Abraham  appeared  to  the  king  in  a  dream,  and 
said  to  him  :  “  God  has  given  thee  wisdom  and  power  above 
every  other  child  of  man  \  He  has  given  thee  dominion  over 
the  earth  and  over  the  winds  ;  He  has  suffered  thee  to  build 


1  The  Jews  also  believed  in  a  purgatory  ;  see  Bartolocri,  L  34*. 


35<> 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS . 


a  house  to  his  honor  ;  thou  hast  power  to  speed  on  the 
back  of  Jinns  or  on  the  wings  of  the  winds  where  thou  listest ; 
now  employ  the  gift  of  God,  and  visit  the  city  of  Jathrib 
(Medina),  which  will  one  day  give  shelter  to  the  greatest  of 
prophets  ;  also  the  city  Mecca,  in  which  he  will  be  born,  and 
the  temple  which  I  and  my- son  Ishmael — peace  be  with  him  ! 
— rebuilt  after  the  flood.” 

Next  morning  Solomon  announced  his  intention  to  make  a 
pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  and  bade  every  Israelite  join  in  the  expe¬ 
dition.  The  number  of  pilgrims  was  so  great,  that  Solomon 
was  obliged  to  have  a  new  carpet  woven  by  the  Jinns  of  such 
vast  size  that  it  could  serve  the  whole  caravan,  with  the  camels 
and  oxen  and  sheep  they  destined  for  sacrifice.  When  ready 
to  start,  Solomon  bade  the  Jinns  and  demons  fly  before  the 
carpet ;  his  confidence  in  their  integrity  was  so  small,  that  he 
would  not  trust  them  out  of  his  sight :  for  this  reason  also  he 
drank  invariably  out  of  crystal  goblets,  that  even  when  drink¬ 
ing  he  might  keep  his  eyes  upon  them.  The  birds  he  ordered 
to  fly  in  ranks  above  the  carpet,  to  give  shadow  to  the  pil¬ 
grims  with  their  wings. 

When  all  was  in  readiness,  and  men,  Jinns,  beasts,  and 
birds  were  assembled  together,  Solomon  ordered  the  winds  to 
descend  and  bear  the  carpet,  with  all  upon  it,  into  the  air, 
and  waft  it  to  Medina. 

'When they  approached  this  town  Solomon  made  a  sign,  and 
the  birds  depressed  their  wings,  and  the  winds  abated,  and 
the  carpet  sank  lightly  to  the  earth.  But  he  suffered  no  man 
to  step  off  the  carpet,  as  Medina  was  then  in  the  hands  of 
idolaters.  He  alone  went  to  the  spot  where  afterwards  Mo¬ 
hammed  was  to  erect  the  first  mosque — it  was  then  a  cemetery 
— and  there  he  offered  up  his  noon-day  prayer.  Then  he 
returned  to  the  carpet ;  at  a  sign  the  birds  spread  their  wings, 
the  winds  gathered  force  and  lifted  the  carpet,  and  the  whole 
caravan  sailed  through  the  air  to  Mecca,  which  was  then  under 
the  power  of  the  Djorhamides,  who  were  worshippers  of  the 
One  God,  and  preserved  the  Kaaba  from  desecration  by  idols. 

Solomon,  with  all  his  company,  entered  the  city,  went  in 
procession  round  the  temple,  performed  the  requisite  cere¬ 
monies,  and  offered  sacrifices  brought  for  the  purpose  from 
Jerusalem.  Then  he  preached  a  long  sermon  in  the  Kaaba, 
in  which  he  prophesied  the  birth  of  Mohammed  and  the  future 
glory  of  Mecca. 


SOLOMON. 


35) 


After  three  days,  Solomon  desired  to  return  to  Jerusalem, 
and  he  remounted  his  throne  on  the  carpet,  and  all  the  pilgrims 
resumed  their  places.  When  the  birds  spread  their  wings,  and 
the  carpet  was  again  in  motion,  the  king  perceived  one  ray  of 
sun  which  pierced  the  canopy  of  birds,  and  this  proved  to  him 
that  one  of  the  birds  had  deserted  its  place. 

He  called  to  the  eagle,  and  bade  it  go  through  the  roll-call 
of  the  birds,  and  ascertain  which  was  absent. 

The  eagle  obeyed,  and  found  that  the  peewit  was  missing 
Solomon  was  inflamed  with  anger,  especially  as  he  needed  the 
peewit  during  his  journey  over  the  desert,  to  discover  for  him 
the  hidden  wells  and  fountains. 

“  Soar  aloft !  ”  exclaimed  Solomon  to  the  eagle,  “  and  seek 
me  this  runaway,  that  I  may  strip  him  of  his  feathers  and 
send  him  naked  forth  into  the  sun,  to  become  the  prey  of  the 
insects.” 

The  eagle  mounted  aloft,  till  'the  earth  was  beneath  him 
like  a  revolving  bowl,  and  he  looked  in  all  directions,  and  at 
length  he  spied  the  peewit  coming  from  the  south,  The  eagle 
would  have  grasped  him  in  his  talons,  but  the  little  bird  im¬ 
plored  him,  by  Solomon,  to  spare  him  till  he  had  related  his 
history  to  the  king. 

“  Trust  not  in  the  protection  of  Solomon,”  said  the  eagle ; 
“  thy  mother  shall  bewail  thee.”  Then  the  eagle  brought  the 
culprit  before  the  king,  whose  countenance  was  inflamed  with 
anger,  and  who,  with  a  frown,  signed  the  runagate  to  be  brought 
before  his  throne.1 

The  peewit  trembled  in  every  limb,  and,  in  token  of  sub¬ 
mission,  let  wings  and  tail  droop  to  the  ground.  As  Solo¬ 
mon’s  face  still  expressed  great  anger,  the  bird  exclaimed,  “  O 
king  and  prophet  of  God  !  remember  that  thou  also  shalt  stand 
before  the  judgment-throne  of  God  !  ” 

“  How  canst  thou  excuse  thine  absence  without  my  con¬ 
sent?”  asked  the  king. 

“  Sire  I  bring  thee  news  of  a  land  and  a  queen  of  which 
thou  hast  not  even  heard  the  name — the  land  of  Sheba,  and 
the  queen,  Balkis. 

“  These  names  are  indeed  strange  tc  me.  Who  told  thee 
of  them  ?  ” 

“  A  lapwing  of  that  country  whom  I  met  in  my  course,  to 


1  Targum  Scheni  Esther,  fol.  401  teils  the  same  of  che  moorcock. 


15* 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


whom  I  spoke  of  thy  majesty,  and  the  greatness  of  thy  domin¬ 
ion,  and  wisdom,  and  power.  Then  he  was  astonished,  and 
he  related  to  me  that  thy  name  was  unknown  in  his  native 
land  ;  and  he  spake  to  me  of  his  home  and  the  wonders  that 
are  there,  and  he  persuaded  me  to  accompany  him  thither. 
And  on  the  way  he  related  to  me  the  history  of  the  Queen  of 
Sheba,  who  commands  an  army  generalled  by  twelve  thousand 
officers.” 

Solomon  bade  the  eagle  release  the  peewit,  and  bade  him 
relate  what  he  had  heard  of  Sheba  and  its  queen. 

5.  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  QUEEN  OF  SHEBA. 

“  Sheba,”  said  the  peewit,  “  is  the  name  of  the  king  who 
founded  the  kingdom  ;  .it  is  also  the  name  of  the  capital.  She¬ 
ba  was  a  worshipper  of  the  sun,  Eblis  having  drawn  him  from 
the  true  God,  who  sends  rain  from  heaven,  and  covers  the 
earth  with  plenty,  and  who  reads  the  thoughts  of  men’s  hearts. 

“  A  succession  of  kings  followed  Sheba :  the  last  of  the 
dynasty  was  Scharabel,  a  tyrant  of  such  dissolute  habits  that 
every  husband  and  father  feared  him.  He  had  a  vizir  of  such 
singular  beauty  that  the  daughters  of  the  Jinns  took  pleasure 
in  contemplating  him,  and  frequently  transformed  themselves 
into  gazelles  that  they  might  trot  alongside  of  him  as  he  walked, 
and  gaze  with  admiration  on  his  exquisite  beauty.  One  of 
these  Jinn  damsels,  Umeira  by  name,  conceived  for  the  vizir 
a  violent  passion,  and  forgetting  the  great  distance  which  sep¬ 
arates  the  race  of  the  Jinns  from  that  of  mortals,  she  appeared 
to  him  one  day  as  he  was  hunting,  and  offered  him  her  hand, 
on  condition  that  he  should  fly  with  her  into  her  own  land, 
and  that  he  should  never  ask  her  oiigin.  The  vizir,  dazzled 
by  the  marvellous  beauty  of  Umeira,  gladly  yielded,  and  she 
transported  him  to  an  island  in  the  midst  of  the  ocean,  where 
she  married  him.  At  the  end  of  nine  months  she  gave  birth 
to  a  daughter,  whom  she  named  Balkis.  The  vizir,  all  this 
while,  was  ignorant  of  the  nature  of  his  bride,  and  one  day  for¬ 
got  himself  so  far  as  to  ask  her  to  what  race  she  belonged. 
No  sooner  had  he  asked  the  fatal  question,  than,  with  a  wail 
of  sorrow,  she  vanished  forever  from  his  sight. 

“  The  vizir  now  left  the  island,  and,  regaining  his  native 
country,  retired  with  his  babe  to  a  valley  far  from  the  capital, 
and  there  lived  in  seclusion. 


SCLC.YCW, 


359 


“.As  Balkis  grew  up,  her  beauty  became  more  striking,  and 
was  of  such  a  superhuman  nature,  that  her  father  became  un¬ 
easy  lest  the  fame  of  it  should  reach  the  dissolute  monster 
then  seated  on  the  throne  of  Sheba,  and  lest  his  daughter 
should  be  ravished  from  his  arms.  He  therefore  redoubled 
his  precautions  to  guard  Balkis,  keeping  her  much  at  home, 
and  only  allowing  her  to  appear  veiled  in  public.  But  these  ' 
precautions  were  vain.  Scharabel  was  in  the  habit  of  travel¬ 
ling  about  his  empire  in  disguise,  and  making  himself,  by  this 
means,  personally  acquainted  with  the  condition  of  his  estates. 

“  On  one  of  these  expeditions  he  appeared,  dressed  in  rags, 
as  a  mendicant,  at  the  door  of  the  ex-vizir,  and  obtained  a 
glimpse  of  Balkis,  then  thirteen  years  old,  lovely  as  a  houri ; 
she  stepped  out  to  give  the  beggar  alms.  At  the  same  moment, 
the  father  hurried  out  towards  his  daughter.  The  eyes  of  the 
two  men  met ;  a  mutual  recognition  ensued.  The  vizir  fell  at 
the  feet  of  bis  king,  and  entreated  pardon,  telling  him  all  that 
had  happened  ;  and  Scharabel,  who  had  fallen  in  love  at  first 
glance  with  Balkis,  readily  pardoned  him,  restored  him  to  his 
place  as  grand  vizir,  and  lodged  him  in  a  magnificent  palace 
near  Sheba. 

“  Installed  there,  the  vizir  was  full  of  disquiet.  His  daugh¬ 
ter  observing  this,  inquired  the  cause,  and  received  from  her 
father  the  answer  that  he  dreaded  lest  the  tyrant  should  carry 
her  off  to  his  harem  ;  ‘  and,’  said  the  unhappy  man,  ‘  I  had 
rather  see  thee  dead,  Balkis,  than  in  the  power  of  this  licentious 
monster.” 

“  ‘  Do  not  fear  for  me,  my  father,’  replied  Balk’s  ;  ‘  what 
thou  dreadest  shall  not  take  place.  Appear  cheerful  before  the 
king.  If  he  wishes  to  marry  me,  then  ask  him  to  give  me  a 
splendid  wedding.” 

“  A  few  days  after,  Scharabel  sent  to  ask  the  hand  of  Bal¬ 
kis.  The  virgin  replied  that  it  should  be  his  if  he  would  sol¬ 
emnize  the  marriage  with  great  pomp.  To  this  the  king  agreed, 
and  a  magnificent  banquet  was  prepared. 

“  After  dinner,  the  vizir  and  all  the  company  retired,  leav¬ 
ing  Balkis  alone  with  the  king.  There  were,  however,  four  fe¬ 
male  slaves  present,  one  singing,  another  harping,  a  third  danc¬ 
ing,  and  a  fourth  pouring  out  wine  for  the  king.  Balkis  took 
the  goblet,  and  plied  her  royal  bridegroom  well,  till  he  fell 
drunk  upon  the  floor,  and  then,  with  a  dagger,  she  stabbed 
him  to  the  heait. 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


“  She  at  once  communicated  with  her  father,  and  bade  him 
send  orders  throughout  the  town  that  all  the  citizens  were  to 
bring  their  daughters  before  the  king,  that  he  might  add  the 
comely  ones  to  his  already  extensive  list  of  wives  and  concu¬ 
bines.  He  obeyed  her,  and  the  commotion  in  the  town  was 
prodigious.  Parents  gathered  their  friends,  those  who  were  of¬ 
ficers  in  the  army  agitated  amongst  their  soldiers,  and  the  whole 
town  rose  up  in  revolt,  and  rushed  furiously  to  the  palace,  de¬ 
termined  on  the  death  of  the  tyrant. 

“  Then  Balkis  cut  off  the  head  of  the  king,  and  showed  it  to 
the  excited  multitude  from  a  window.  A  cry  of  joy  rang  through 
Sheba.  The  palace  gates  were  thrown  open,  and  Balkis  was 
unanimously  elected  queen  in  the  room  of  the  murdered  tyrant. 

“  From  that  hour  she  has  governed  Sheba  with  prudence, 
and  has  made  the  country  prosperous.  She  sits  to  hear  suits, 
and  gives  judgment  on  a  throne  of  gold,  robed  in  splendor.  All 
prospers  under  her  wise  administration :  but,  alas  !  like  her 
predecessors,  she  too  is  a  worshipper  of  the  sun.” 

When  Solomon  heard  the  story  of  the  peewit,  he  wrote  a 
letter  and  sealed  it  with  his  ring,  gave  it  to  the  bird,  and  bade 
him  carry  it  immediately  to  the  Queen  of  Sheba. 

The  peewit  flew  like  an  arrow,  and  on  the  morrow  appeared 
before  Balkis,  and  gave  her  the  missive.  The  queen  broke  the 
seal  and  read  :  “  Solomon,  son  of  David,  and  servant  of  the 
Most  High  God,  to  Balkis,  queen  of  Sheba,  sendeth  greeting. 
In  the  name  of  the  merciful  and  gracious  God,  peace  be  to 
those  who  walk  in  His  wavs.  Do  what  I  bid  thee :  submit  im¬ 
mediately  to  my  sceptre.” 1 

1  This  is  the  letter  according  to  Rabbinic  authors  :  “  Greeting  to  thee 
and  to  thine  ;  from  me.  King  Solomon.  It  is  known  to  thee  that  the  holy, 
ever-blessed  God  has  made  me  lord  and  king  over  the  wild  beasts  and  birds 
of  heaven,  and  over  the  devils,  and  spirits,  and  ghosts  of  the  night,  and  that 
all  kings,  from  the  rising  to  the  down-setting  of  the  sun,  come  and  greet 
me.  If  thou  also  wilt  come  and  salute  me,  then  I  will  show  thee  great 
honor  above  all  the  kings  that  lie  prostrate  before  me.  But  if  thou  wilt  not 
come,  and  wilt  not  salute  me,  then  will  I  send  kings,  and  soldiers,  and 
horsemen  against  thee.  And  if  thou  sayest  in  thine  heart,  ‘  Hath  King 
Solomon  kings,  and  soldiers,  and  horsemen?’  then  know  that  the  wild 
beasts  are  his  kings,  and  soldiers,  and  horsemen.  And  if  thou  sayest,  ‘  What, 
then,  are  his  horsemen?’  know  that  the  birds  of  heaven  are  his  horsemen. 
His  army  arc  ghosts,  and  devils,  and  spectres  of  the  night ;  and  they  shall 
torment  and  slay  you  at  night  in  your  beds,  and  the  wild  beasts  will  rend 
you  in  the  fields,  and  the  birds  will  tear  the  flesh  of  you.”  This  letter  the 
Je\*rs  say,  was  sent  to  the  Queer  of  Sheba  by  a  moorcock.  (Targum  Scheni 
Estbei,  fol.  401,  t4o). 


I 


SOLOMON .  361 

The  queen,  startled  at  the  abrupt  and  peremptory  command, 
read  the  letter  to  her  council,  and  asked  their  advice. 

They  urged  her  to  follow  her  own  devices,  and  promised  to 
agree  to  whatever  she  thought  fit.  She  then  said  :  “You  know 
what  disasters  follow  on  war.  The  letter  of  Solomon  is  threat¬ 
ening  ;  I  will  send  him  a  messenger,  and  propitiate  him  with 
gifts.  If  he  accepts  them,  he  is  not  above  other  kings  ;  if  he 
rejects  them,  he  is  a  prophet,  and  we  must  yield  to  his  sway.” 

She  then  dressed  five  hundred  boys  as  girls,  and  five  hun¬ 
dred  girls  she  equipped  in  boys’  clothes.  She  collected,  for 
presents,  a  thousand  carpets  of  gold  and  silver  tissue,  a  crown 
adorned  with  pearls  and  diamonds,  and  a  great  quantity  of 
perfumes. 

She  also  placed  a  pearl,  a  diamond  cut  through  in  zigzags, 
and  a  crystal  goblet,  in  a  box,  and  gave  it  to  her  chief  ambas¬ 
sador. 

Finally,  she  wrote  a  letter  to  Solomon,  telling  him  that,  if 
he  was  a  prophet,  he  would  be  able  to  distinguish  boys  from 
girls  in  the  train  of  the  ambassadors,  that  he  would  be  able  to 
guess  the  contents  of  the  box,  pierce  the  pearl,  thread  the 
diamond,  and  fill  the  goblet  with  water  which  came  neither 
from  earth  nor  heaven.  The  chief  nobles  of  Sheba  were  sent 
to  bear  the  letter.  Before  they  left,  she  s^id  to  them  :  “  If 
Solomon  receives  you  with  arrogance,  fear  nothing  ;  pride  is  a 
sure  token  of  weakness.  If  he  receives  you  graciously,  be 
careful — he  is  a  prophet.”  The  peewit,  who  had  watched  all 
these  proceedings,  and  listened  to  the  message  and  advice, 
now  flew  to  Solomon  and  told  him  all. 

The  great  king  immediately  ordered  his  Jinns  to  spread 
his  carpet  seven  leagues  long,  leading  from  his  throne  towards 
Sheba.  He  then  surrounded  himself  with  gold  and  gems,  and 
gathered  all  his  courtiers  and  officers  together,  and  prepared 
for  the  audience. 

When  the  ambassadors  of  Sheba  set  their  feet  on  the 
carpet — the  end  of  which  was  beyond  the  range  of  vision — 
they  were  full  of  astonishment.  This  astonishment  increased, 
and  became  terror,  when  they  passed  between  ranks  of  demons, 
and  Jinns,  and  nobles,  and  princes,  and  soldiers,  extending 
for  many  miles. 

When  the  leaders  of  the  embassy  reached  the  foot  of  the 
throne,  Solomon  received  tl  em  with  a  gracious  smile.  Then 
they  presented  the  letter  of  the  queen.  Solomon,  without 
16 


36i  old  testament  characters. 

opening  it,  told  them  its  contents,  for  it  had  been  read  by  the 
peewit.  They  offered  the  box,  and  he  said  that  in  it  were  a 
pearl,  a  diamond,  and  a  goblet.  He  next  ordered  his  servants 
to  bring  silver  ewers  before  the  train  of  the  ambassadors,  that 
they  might  wash  their  hands  after  their  journey.  Solomon 
watched  intently,  and  he  picked  out  the  boys  from  the  girls  at 
once  ;  for  the  boys  dipped  their  hands  only  in  the  water,  whilst 
the  girls  tucked  up  their  sleeves  to  their  shoulders  and  washed 
arms  as  well  as  hands. 

Then  the  box  was  opened  and  the  pearl  produced.  Solo¬ 
mon  unclasped  his  pouch  and  drew  forth  Schamir,  applied  it  to 
the  pearl,  and  a  hole  was  drilled  through  it  immediately. 
Next  he  took  the  diamond.  The  hole  pierced  in  it  wound 
about,  and  a  thread  inserted  in  one  end  would  not  pass  through 
to  the  other  end.  Solomon  took  a  piece  of  silk,  called  to  him 
a  worm,  put  one  end  of  the  thread  in  its  mouth  and  inserted  it 
in  the  diamond.  The  worm  crawled  down  the  winding  pas¬ 
sage,  and  appeared  at  the  other  opening  with  the  silk.  In 
gratitude  to  the  little  creature,  Solomon  gave  it  for  its  food  for¬ 
ever  the  mulberry-tree.  Then  he  took  the  crystal  goblet.  He 
summoned  to  him  a  huge  negro  slave,  bade  him  mount  a  wild 
horse  and  gallop  it  about  the  plain  till  it  steamed  with  sweat. 
Then  with  ease,  the  monarch  filled  the  chalice  with  water  that 
neither  came  from  earth  or  heaven. 

Solomon,  having  accomplished  these  tasks,  said  to  the  am¬ 
bassadors  :  “  Take  back  your  presents,  I  do  not  want  them. 
Tell  the  queen  what  you  have  seen,  and  bid  her  submit  to  my 
rule.” 

When  Balkis  had  heard  the  report  of  her  servants,  she  saw 
that  it  was  in  vain  for  her  to  resist. 

“  Solomon,”  said  she,  “  is  a  great  prophet,  and  I  must  my¬ 
self  do  him  homage.” 

She  accordingly  hastened  to  prepare  for  her  journey,  and 
marched  to  King  Solomon  at  the  head  of  her  twelve  thousand 
generals,  and  all  the  armies  they  commanded.  When  she  was 
a  league  from  Solomon,  the  king  hit  upon  a  scheme.  He 
called  to  him  a  demon,  and  bade  him  transport  immediately 
from  Sheba  the  throne  of  the  queen,  and  set  it  beside  his  own. 
The  Jinn  replied  that  he  would  bring  it  before  noon,  but  the 
king  could  not  wait,  for  the  queen  would  soon  be  there ;  then 
Asaph,  his  vizir,  said  “  Raise  thine  eyes,  sire,  to  heaven,  and 
before  thou  canst  lower  them  the  throne  of  Balkis  will  be  here.” 


SOLOMON.  363 

Asaph  knew  the  ineffable  name  of  God,  and  therefore  was 
able  to  do  what  he  said. 

Solomon  looked  up,  and  before  he  looked  down,  Asaph 
had  brought  the  throne. 

As  soon  as  Balkis  appeared,  Solomon  asked  her  if  she 
recognized  the  seat.  She  replied,  “  It  is  mine,  if  it  is  that 
which  it  was.”  A  reply,  which  we  are  told,  charmed  Solomon. 

Now  the  Jinns  were  envious  of  Balkis,  and  they  sought  to 
turn  away  the  heart  of.  Solomon  away  from  her  ;  so  they  told 
him  that  she  had  hairy  legs.1 

Solomon,  accordingly,  was  particularly  curious  to  inspect 
her  legs.  He  therefore  directed  the  Jinns  to  lay  down  in  front 
of  the  throne  a  pavement  of  crystal  one  hundred  cubits  square. 
Upon  this  pavement  he  ordered  them  to  pour  water,  so  that 
it  might  appear  to  be  water. 

In  order  to  approach  Solomon,  Queen  Balkis  raised  her 
petticoats,  lest  they  should  be  wet  in  passing  through  what 
she  supposed  to  be  water  of  considerable  depth.  The  first 
step,  however,  convinced  her  that  the  bottom  was  nearer  the 
surface  than  she  anticipated,  and  so  she  dropped  her  petti¬ 
coats,  but  not  before  the  great  king  had  seen  that  the  Jinns 
had  maligned  her  legs,  and  that  the  only  blemish  to  her  legs 
was  three  goat’s  hairs ;  and  these  he  was  enabled  to  remove 
by  a  composition  of  arsenic  and  lime,  which  was  the  first  de¬ 
pilatory  preparation  ever  employed.  This  was  one  of  the  five 
arts  introduced  by  Solomon  into  the  world.  The  others  were, 
the  art  of  taking  warm  baths,  the  art  of  piercing  pearls,  the 
art  of  diving,  and  the  art  of  melting  copper. 

The  queen  stepped  gracefully  towards  the  king,  and  bow¬ 
ing,  offered  him  two  wreaths  of  flowers,  whereof  one  was  nat¬ 
ural,  the  other  artificial,  asking  him  which  he  preferred.  The 
sagacious  Solomon  seemed  perplexed  ;  he  who  had  written 
treatises  on  the  herbs,  “from  the  cedar  to  the  hyssop,”  was 
nearly  outwitted.  A  swarm  of  bees  was  fluttering  outside  a 
window.  Solomon  ordered  the  window  to  be  opened,  and  the 
insects  flew  in,  and  settled  immediately  on  the  wreath  of  nat¬ 
ural  flowers,  not  one  approaching  the  artificial  wreath. 

“  I  will  have  the  wreath  the  bees  have  chosen,”  said  the 
king,  triumphantly. 

1  According  to  another  account,  “that  she  had  ass’s  legs  ”  (Weil,  p 
267)  Tabari  says,  “hairy  legs’*  (i.  p  jjiV 


364 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


Solomon  took  Balkis  to  be  his  wife,  and  she  worshipped 

the  true  God.  She  gave  him  all  her  realm,  but  he  returned  it 

to  her ;  and  when  she  went  into  her  own  land,  she  bore  with 

her  the  fruit  of  her  union  with  Solomon,  and  in  the  course  of 

time  bore  a  son,  who  is  the  ancestor  of  the  kings  of  Abys- 
•  •  ))  1 
sima. 


6.  Solomon’s  adventure  with  the  apes. 

On  one  of  his  journeys,  Solomon  passed  through  a  valley 
which  was  inhabited  by  apes  which  dressed  themselves  like 
men,  and  lived  in  houses,  and  ate  their  food  in  a  way  wholly 
superior  to  other  apes. 

Solomon  descended  from  his  carpet  and  marched  at  the 
head  of  his  soldiers  into  the  valley.  The  apes  assembled  to 
resist  him,  but  one  of  their  elders  stepped  into  the  midst  of 
them  and  said,  “  Let  us  rather  submit  and  lay  down  our  arms, 
for  he  who  comes  against  us  is  a  holy  prophet.” 

Then  three  apes  were  chosen  as  ambassadors,  and  were 
sent  to  Solomon  with  overtures  of  peace. 

Solomon  asked  them  to  what  race  they  belonged. 

The  envoys  replied,  “  We  are  of  human  origin,  and  of  the 
race  of  Israel,  and  we  are  descended  from  those  who,  in  spite 
of  all  warnings,  have  violated  the  Sabbath,  and  who  have 
therefore,  in  punishment,  been  transformed  by  God  into  mon¬ 
keys.” 

Solomon  had  compassion  on  the  apes,  and  he  gave  them  a 
letter  on  parchment,  assuring  to  them  undisturbed  possession 
of  their  valley  against  all  assault  by  men. 

And  in  after  days,  in  the  time  of  the  Calif  Omar,  some  of 
his  troops  invaded  this  valley,  and,  with  great  amazement,  be 
held  the  apes  stone  a  female  which  had  been  taken  in  adul¬ 
tery.  And  when  they  would  conquer  the  valley,  an  aged  ape 
came  before  them  bearing  a  parchment  letter.  This  they  were 
unable  to  read ;  so  they  sent  it  to  the  Calif  Omar,  who  was 
also  unable  to  decipher  the  writing;  but  a  Jew  at  his  court 
read  it,  and  it  was  an  assurance  given  to  the  apes  against  in¬ 
vasion  by  King  Solomon. 

Therefore  Omar  sent  orders  that  they  were  to  be  left  un¬ 
molested,  and  returned  to  them  their  parchment.* 

1  Weil,  pp.  246-267  ;  Tabari,  i.  cc.  94,  95.  *  Weil,  pp.  267-9. 


SOLOMON. 


3«I 


7.  SOLOMON  MARRIES  THE  DAUGHTER  OF  PHARAOH. 

The  throne  of  Solomon  had  four  feet.  It  was  of  red  ruby, 
and  of  the  ruby  were  made  four  lions.  None  but  Solomon 
could  sit  upon  the  throne.  When  Nebuchadnezzar  came  to 
Jerusalem  and  sought  to  ascend  the  throne,  the  lions  rose  and 
struck  at  him,  and  broke  his  legs.  He  was  given  remedies, 
and  his  legs  were  reset.  No  one  after  that  ventured  to  sit 
on  the  throne.1 

Djarada  was  the  daughter  of  King  Nubara,  of  an  island  in 
the  Indian  Sea,  according  to  the  Arabs ;  of  King  Pharaoh  of 
Egypt,  say  the  Jews. 

Solomon  marched  against  the  king,  on  his  carpet,  with  as 
many  soldiers  as  it  would  accommodate ;  defeated  him,  and 
slew  him  with  his  own  hand.  In  the  palace  of  King  Nubara 
Solomon  found  the  Princess  Djarada,  who  was  more  beautiful 
than  all  the  ladies  in  Solomon’s  harem,  surpassing  even  the 
beautiful  Balkis. 

Solomon  made  her  mount  the  carpet,  and  he  forced  her,  by 
threats  of  death,  to  share  his  faith  and  his  couch.  But  Djarada 
saw  in  Solomon  only  the  murderer  of  her  father,  and  she  re¬ 
coiled  from  his  embrace  with  loathing,  and  spent  her  nights 
and  days  in  tears  and  sighs.  Solomon  hoped  that  time  would 
heal  these  wounds  and  reconcile  her  to  her  fate ;  but  as,  after 
the  expiration  of  a  year,  her  sorrow  showed  no  signs  of  abating, 
he  asked  her  what  he  could  do  which  might  give  her  comfort 
She  replied  that  at  home  was  a  statue  of  her  father,  and  that 
she  desired  greatly  to  have  it  in  her  chamber  as  a  reminder  of 
him  whom  she  had  lost.  Solomon,  moved  with  compassion, 
sent  a  Jinn  for  the  statue,  and  it  was  set  up  in  the  apartment 
of  Djarada.  Djarada  immediately  prostrated  herself  before 
it,  and  offered  incense  and  worship  to  the  image ;  and  this  con¬ 
tinued  for  forty  days. 

Then  Asaph  heard  of  it,  and  he  ascended  the  pulpit  in  the 
temple  and  preached  before  the  king  and  all  the  people.  He 
declared  how  holy  and  pure  had  been  the  ancient  prophets 
from  Adam  to  David,  how  they  had  been  preserved  clean  from 
all  idolatry.  Then  he  turned  to  Solomon,  and  praised  his  wis¬ 
dom  and  piety  during  the  first  years  of  his  reign ;  but  he  re- 


1  Tabari,  i.  c.  xcvi.  p.  448. 


366 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


gretted  that  his  latter  conduct  had  not  been  as  full  of  integrity 
as  at  first. 

When  Solomon  heard  this,  he  called  Asaph  to  him,  and 
asked  him  thus  before  all  the  people.  Asaph  answered,  “  Thou 
hast  suffered  thy  passions  to  blind  thee,  so  that  idolatry  is  prac¬ 
tised  in  thy  palace.” 

Solomon  hastened  to  the  room  of  Djarada,  and  found  her 
in  prayer  before  the  image  of  her  departed  father.  Then  he 
cried  out,  “  We  are  the  servants  of  God,  and  to  Him  shall  we 
return.”  Then  he  broke  the  image  and  punished  Djarada. 

After  that  he  put  on  him  garments  which  had  been  woven 
and  sewn  by  virgins,  strewed  ashes  on  his  head,  and  went  into 
the  wilderness  to  bewail  his  sin.  God  forgave  him,  after  that 
he  had  fasted  and  wept  for  forty  days.1 

Another  sin  that  Solomon  committed  was  this.  He  was 
very  fond  of  horses.  One  day,  when  the  hour  of  prayer  ap¬ 
proached,  the  horses  of  Saul  were  brought  before  him  ;  and 
when  nine  hundred  had  passed,  Solomon  looked  up  and  saw 
that  the  hour  of  prayer  was  passed  and  he  had  forgotten  to 
give  glory  to  God.  Then  said  Solomon,  “  I  have  cared  for  the 
things  of  this  world,  instead  of  thinking  of  my  Lord  ;  ”  and  he 
said,  “  Bring  back  the  horses ;  ”  and  when  they  were  brought 
back,  he  cut  their  throats.2 

Some  commentators  on  the  Koran  object  that  this  was  an 
act  of  injustice,  for  Solomon  had  sinned,  not  the  horses ;  and 
they  explain  away  the  passage  by  saying  that  he  dedicated  the 
horses  to  God,  and  that  he  did  not  kill  them.* 

8.  HOW  SOLOMON  LOST  AND  RECOVERED  HIS  RING. 

One  day  that  Solomon  retired  to  perform  the  necessary 
functions  of  nature,  he  placed  his  ring  in  the  hand  of  Djarada  ; 
for  on  such  occasions  he  was  wont  to  remove  the  ring  from 
his  finger.  For  the  first  time  he  forgot  the  advice  of  the  queen 
of  the  ants,  and  gave.no  praise  to  God  as  he  committed  the 
signet  to  other  hands. 

Sachr,  the  mighty  Jinn,4  took  advantage  of  this  act  of  for- 

1  Weil,  pp.  269-271  ;  Tabari,  pp.  450,  45  .. 

5  Koran,  Sura  xxxviii.  8  Tabari,  pp.  460,  461. 

4  In  the  Jewish  legend,  Asmodeus.  In  “Curiosities  of  Olden  times" 
I  have  pointed  out  the  connection  between  the  story  of  the  disgrace  of 
Solomon  and  that  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  Jovinian,  Robert  of  Sicily,  etc. 


SOLOMC  V. 


367 


getfulness,  and,  assuming  the  form  of  Solomon,  came  to  the 
Egyptian  princess  and  asked  her  for  the  ring.  She,  nothing 
doubting,  restored  it  to  him ;  and  Sachr  went  to  the  hall  of 
audience,  and  ascended  the  throne. 

When  Solomon  returned,  he  asked  Djarada  for  the  signet 

“  I  have  already  given  it  thee,”  said  she  ;  and  then,  contem¬ 
plating  him  with  attention,  she  exclaimed,  “  This  is  not  the 
king  !  Solomon  is  in  the  judgment-hall ;  thou  art  an  impostor, 
an  evil  spirit  who  has  assumed  his  shape  for  evil  purposes.” 

Then  Solomon  was  driven,  at  her  cry,  from  the  palace,  and 
every  one  treated  him  as  a  fool  or  rogue.  He  begged  from 
door  to  door,  saying,  “I,  Solomon,  was  king  in  Jerusalem  !  ” 
but  the  people  mocked  him.  For  three  years  he  was  an  out¬ 
cast,  because  he  had  transgressed  three  precepts  of  the  Law — 
“  The  king  set  over  thee  .  .  .  shall  not  multiply  horses  to 
himself  .  .  .  neither  shall  he  multiply  wives  to  himself ; 

neither  shall  he  greatly  multiply  to  himself  silver  and  gold.”  1 
And  this  is  what  befell  him  in  that  time.  He  went  into  the 
land  of  the  Ammonites,  and  there  he  fell  into  great  want ; 
but  the  master  cook  of  the  king’s  house  took  him  to  serve  as 
scullion  in  the  kitchen.  After  he  had  served  for  some  time, 
he  one  day  cooked  some  meats  for  the  king ;  and  when  the 
king  tasted  the  meats  Solomon  had  baked,  he  was  well  pleased, 
and  sent  for  Solomon  and  asked  him  if  he  would  be  his  head 
cook. 

Then  Solomon  consented,  and  the  king  of  the  Ammonites 
dismissed  the  master  cook,  and  placed  Solomon  in  his  room, 
and  Solomon  excelled  greatly  in  cooking,  and  pleased  the  king 
more  and  more  with  the  variety  and  excellence  of  his  dishes 
every  day. 

Now  it  fell  out  that  Naama,  daughter  of  the  king,  saw  Solo 
mon  from  day  to  day,  and  she  conceived  an  ardent  passion  foi 
him,  and  she  went  to  her  mother  and  said,  “  I  shall  die  of  love, 
unless  I  am  given  the  head  cook  to  husband.” 

The  queen  was  astonished  and  ashamed,  and  said,  “  There 
are  kings  and  princes  and  nobles  in  Ammon  ;  take  to  you  which 
you  will.”  But  Naama  answered,  “  I  will  have  none  save  the 
head  cook.” 

Then  the  queen  went  and  told  the  king,  and  he  was  exceed¬ 
ing  wroth,  and  would  have  slain  both  Solomon  and  Naama ; 


*  Dent.  xvii.  16.  17. 


368 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


but  when  the  first  fury  of  his  anger  was  cooled  down,  he  bade 
one  of  his  servants  take  them,  both  Solomon  and  Naama,  and 
conduct  them  into  the  desert,  and  there  leave  them  to  perish.1 
The  command  of  the  king  was  executed,  and  Solomon  and 
Naama  were  left  in  the  wilderness  without  food.  Then  they 
wandered  on  till  they  came  to  the  borders  of  the  sea,  and 
Solomon  found  some  fishers,  and  he  labored  for  them,  and 
every  day  they  gave  him,  in  payment  for  his  services,  two  fish. 

Thus  passed  the  time,  till  one  day  Solomon's  wife,  Naama, 
on  cleaning  one  of  the  fishes,  found  in  its  belly  a  ring,  and  she 
brought  it  to  her  husband  ;  and  behold  !  it  was  his  signet  which 
he  had  put  in  the  hands  of  Djarada,  and  which  had  been  taken 
from  her  by  subtlety  by  the  evil  spirit.  And  this  was  how  he 
recovered  it :  on  the  ring  was  engraved  the  Incommunicable 
Name,  and  this  the  Jinn  could  not  endure ;  therefore  he  could 
not  wear  the  signet,  and  he  cast  it  into  the  sea,  where  the  fish 
had  swallowed  it. 

Now  when  Solomon  recovered  his  ring,  he  was  filled  with 
joy,  and  the  light  returned  to  his  eyes ;  he  went  back  to  Jeru¬ 
salem  with  great  haste,  and  all  the  people  recognized  him,  and 
bowed  before  him  :  and  when  the  Evil  Spirit  saw  Solomon,  and 
that  he  had  the  signet  upon  his  hand,  he  uttered  a  loud  cry  and 
fled.  Solomon  refused  to  see  again  Djarada,  the  author  of  his 
misfortune  ;  but  he  visited  Queen  Balkis  every  month,  till  the 
day  of  her  death.2 

When  Balkis  died,  he  had  her  body  conveyed  to  Tadmor  in 
the  desert,  the  city  she  had  built ;  but  her  grave  was  known  to 
none  till  the  reign  of  the  Calif  Walid,  when  in  consequence  of 
a  heavy  rain,  the  walls  of  Tadmor  fell.  Then  was  found  an  iron 
sarcophagus  which  was  sixty  ells  long  and  forty  ells  wide,  which 
bore  this  inscription  : — “  Here  lies  the  pious  Balkis,  queen  of 
Sheba,  wife  of  the  prophet  Solomon,  son  of  David.  She  wat 
converted  to  the  true  faith  in  the  thirteenth  year  of  the  reign 
of  Solomon  ;  she  married  him  in  the  fourteenth,  and  died  in  the 
three-and-twentieth  year  of  his  reign.” 

The  son  of  the  Calif  raised  the  lid  of  the  coffin,  and  beheld 
a  woman,  as  fresh  as  if  she  had  only  been  lately  buried. 

He  announced  the  fact  to  his  father,  and  asked  what  should 

1  Emek  Nammelek,  fol.  14  ;  Gittin,  fol.  68,  col.  2  ;  Eisenmenger,  i.  pp. 
358-60.  The  Anglo-Saxon  story  of  Havelock  the  Dane  bears  a  strong  re¬ 
semblance  to  this  part  of  the  story  of  Solomon. 

*  Eisenmenger,  i.  pp.  358-60;  Weil,  pp.  271-4;  Tabari,  c.  96. 


DA  VI D. 


369 

be  clone  with  the  sarcophagus.  Walid  ordered  him  to  leave 
it  where  it  had  been  found,  and  to  pile  blocks  of  marble  over 
it,  so  that  it  might  not  again  be  disturbed  by  the  hand  of 
man.1 

Solomon,  when  he  was  again  on  the  throne,  placed  a  crown 
on  the  head  of  Naama,  and  seated  her  beside  him,  and  sent  for 
the  king  of  Ammon.  And  when  the  king  came,  he  was  filled 
with  astonishment,  and  wondered  how  his  daughter  had  escap¬ 
ed  from  the  desert  and  had  found  favor  with  the  greatest  of 
monarchs.  Then  said  Solomon,  “  See  !  I  was  thy  head-cook 
and  this  is  thy  daughter  ;  bid  her  come  to  thee  and  kiss  thee.” 
Then  the  king  of  Ammon  kissed  his  daughter  and  returned, 
glad  of  heart,  to  his  own  land.2 

9.  THE  DEATH  OF  SOLOMON. 

When  Solomon  had  recovered  his  throne,  he  reigned  twenty 
years.  His  whole  reign  was  forty  years,  and  he  lived  in  all 
fifty-five  years.3  He  spent  these  years  in  prosecuting  the  build¬ 
ing  of  the  temple.  Towards  the  end  of  his  life  he  often  visited 
the  temple,  and  remained  there  one  or  two  months  plunged  in 
prayer,  without  leaving  it.  He  took  his  nourishment  in  the 
temple.  He  even  remained  a  year  thus  ;  and  when  he  was 
standing,  with  bowed  head,  in  an  humble  attitude  before  God, 
no  one  ventured  to  approach  him,  man  or  Jinn  ;  if  a  Jinn  drew 
near,  fire  fell  from  heaven  and  consumed  him.  • 

In  the  garden  of  Solomon  grew  every  day  an  unknown  tree. 
Solomon  asked  it,  “  What- is  thy  name,  and  what  are  thy  vir¬ 
tues  ?  ”  And  the  tree  answered  him,  “  I  am  called  such  and 
such,  and  I  serve  such  a  purpose,  either  by  my  fruits,  or  by  my 
shadow,  or  by  my  fragrance.” 

Then  Solomon  transplanted  it  elsewhere  ;  and  if  it  were  a 
tree  with  medicinal  properties,  he  wrote  in  books  the  kind  of 
remedies  for  which  it  served.  One  day  Solomon  saw  in  his 
garden  a  new  tree,  and  he  asked  it,  “  What  is  thy  name,  and 
what  purpose  dost  thou  serve  ?  ” 

The  tree  replied,  “  I  serve  for  the  destruction  of  the  tem¬ 
ple.  Make  of  me  a  staff,  whereon  to  lean.” 

Solomon  said,  “  None  can  destroy  the  temple  as  long  as  I 
am  alive.”  Then  he  understood  that  the  tree  warned  him 

4 

1  Weil,  p.  274. 

16 * 


2  Eisenmenger,  i.  361. 


3  Tabari,  p.  454. 


37° 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


that  he  must  shortly  die.  He  pulled  up  the  tree,  and  of  it  he 
made  a  staff,  and,  when  he  prayed,  he  leaned  on  his  staff  to 
keep  himself  upright. 

Solomon  knew  that  the  temple  was  not  completed,  and  that 
if  he  died,  and  the  Jinns  knew  of  it,  they  would  leave  off  build¬ 
ing  ;  therefore  he  prayed,  “  O  Lord  !  grant  that  the  event  of 
my  death  may  be  hidden  from  the  Jinns,  that  they  may  finish 
this  temple.” 

God  heard  his  prayer,  that  the  temple  might  be  completed, 
and  that  the  Jinns  might  be  humbled.  Solomon  died  in  the 
temple,  standing,  leaning  on  his  staff,  with  his  head  bowed  in 
adoration.  And  his  soul  was  taken  so  gently  from  him  by  the 
Angel  of  Death,  that  the  body  remained  standing ;  and  so  it 
remained  for  a  whole  year,  and  those  who  saw  him  thought 
he  was  absorbed  in  prayer,  and  they  ventured  not  to  ap¬ 
proach. 

The  Jinns  worked  night  and  day  till  the  temple  was  finish¬ 
ed.  Now,  God  had  ordered,  the  same  day  that  the  soul  left 
Solomon,  a  little  white  ant,  which  devours  wood,  to  come  up 
out  of  the  earth  under  the  staff,  and  to  gnaw  the  inside  of  the 
staff.  She  ate  a  little  every  day  ;  and  as  the  staff  was  very 
strong  and  stout,  she  had  not  finished  it  till  the  end  of  the 
year.  Then,  when  the  temple  was  finished,  at  the  same  time 
the  staff  was  eaten  up,  and  it  crumbled  under  the  weight  of 
Solomon,  and  the  body  fell.  Thus  the  Jinns  knew  that  Solo¬ 
mon  was  dead.  Now  wherever  the  white  ant  eats  wood,  the 
void  is  filled  up  with  clay  and  water  by  the  Jinns  ;  and  this 
they  will  continue  to  do  till  the  day  of  the  Resurrection,  in 
gratitude  to  the  little  ant  which  announced  to  them  the  death 
of  him  who  held  them  in  bondage.  If  the  clay  and  the  water 
are  not  inserted  by  the  Jinns,  whence  can  they  come  ? 

The  sages  assembled  and  enclosed  an  ant  in  a  box,  with  a 
piece  of  wood,  for  a  night  and  a  day  ;  then  they  compared  the 
amount  devoured  in  that  time  with  the  length  of  the  staff,  and 
thus  they  ascertained  how  long  a  time  Solomon  had  been 
dead.1 

1  Koran,  Sura  xxxix. ;  Tabari  c.  97  ;  Weil,  p.  279. 


ELIJAH. 


371 


XXXIX. 

ELIJAH. 

When  the  prophet  Elijah  appeared,  idolatry  was  general. 
God  sent  him  to  Balbek  (Heliopolis),  to  persuade  the  inhab¬ 
itants  to  renounce  the  worship  of  Baal,  from  whom  the  city  took 
its  name.  Some  say  that  Baal  was  the  name  of  a  woman, 
beautiful  of  countenance.  The  Israelites  also  adored  Baal, 
Elijah  preached  against  idolatry  ;  and  Ahab  at  first  believed 
in  him,  and  rejected  Baal,  but  after  a  while  relapsed.  Then 
Elijah  prayed,  and  God  sent  a  famine  on  the  land  for  three 
years,  and  many  men  died.  None  had  bread  save  Elijah,  and 
when  any  smelt  the  odor  of  bread,  they  said  “  Elijah  hath 
passed  this  way  !  ” 

One  day  Elijah  came  to  the  house  of  an  old  woman  who 
had  a  son  named  Elisha.  Both  complained  of  hunger.  Eli¬ 
jah  gave  them  bread.  It  is  said,  likewise,  that  Elisha  was 
paralytic,  and  that  at  the  prayer  of  Elijah  he  was  healed. 

When  the  famine  had  lasted  three  years,  Elijah  went,  ac¬ 
companied  by  Elisha,  before  King  Ahab,  and  he  said  : — 
“  For  three  years  you  have  been  without  bread  ;  let  your  god 
Baal,  if  he  can,  satisfy  your  hunger.  If  he  cannot,  I  will  pray 
to  Jehovah,  and  He  will  deliver  you  out  of  your  distress,  if 
you  will  consent  to  worship  Him.” 

Ahab  consented.  Then  Elijah  ordered  the  idol  of  Baal  to 
be  taken  out  of  the  city,  and  the  worshippers  of  Baal  invoked 
the  god,  but  their  prayers  remained  unanswered.  Then  Eli¬ 
jah  prayed,  and  immediately  rain  fell  and  the  earth  brought 
forth  green  herb  and  corn. 

Nevertheless,  shortly  after,  the  people  returned  to  idolatry, 
and  Elijah  was  weary  of  his  life  ;  he  consecrated  Elisha  to 
succeed  him,  and  he  prayed  to  God,  “  O  Lord  !  save  me  from 
this  untoward  generation.”  And  God  heard  his  cry,  and  He 
carried  him  away  and  gave  him  life  till  the  day  when  Israfiel 
shall  sound  the  trump  of  judgment.1 

Both  Jews  and  Mussulmans  believe  that  Elijah  is  not  dead, 
but  that  he  lives,  and  appears  at  intervals.  The  Mussulmans 
have  confused  him  with  El  Khoudr,  and  relate  many  wonder¬ 
ful  stories  of  him.  He  is  unquestionably  the  origin  of  the 

1  Tabari,  i.  c.  84. 


372 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


Wandering  Jew.  His  reappearances  are  mentioned  in  the 
Talmud,  and  in  later  Jewish  legends,  as,  for  instance,  in  a 
story  told  by  Abraham  Tendlau.1  A  poor  Jew  and  his  wife 
were  reduced  to  great  necessity;  the  man  had  not  clothes  in 
which  to  go  forth  and  ask  for  work.  Then  his  wife  borrowed 
for  him  clothes,  and  he  entered  the  street  seeking  work.  He 
met  a  venerable  man,  who  bade  him  use  him  as  a  slave.  The 
Jew  engaged  to  build  a  palace  for  a  prince  with  the  assistance 
of  his  slave,  for  ten  thousand  thalers.  The  mysterious  stran¬ 
ger  labored  hard  and  angels  assisted  him,  so  that  the  mansion 
was  completed  with  astonishing  rapidity.  When  the  Jew  had 
received  the  money,  the  old  man  announced  that  he  was  Eli¬ 
jah,  who  had  come  to  assist  him,  and  vanished. 

After  the  Arabs  had  captured  the  city  of  Elvan,  Fadhilah, 
at  the  head  of  three  hundred  horsemen,  pitched  his  tents,  late 
in  the  evening,  between  two  mountains.  Fadhilah  having  be¬ 
gun  his  evening  prayer  with  a  loud  voice,  heard  the  words 
“Allah  akbar!”  (God  is  great!)  repeated  distinctly,  and 
each  word  of  his  prayer  was  followed  in  a  similar  manner. 
Fadhilah,  not  believing  this  to  be  an  echo,  was  much  as¬ 
tonished,  and  cried  out,  “  O  thou  !  whether  thou  art  of  the 
angel  ranks,  or  whether  thou  art  of  some  other  order  of  spirits, 
it  is  well,  the  power  of  God  be  with  thee ;  but  if  thou  art  a 
man,  then  let  mine  eyes  light  upon  thee,  that  I  may  rejoice 
in  thy  presence  and  society.” 

Scarcely  had  he  spoken  these  words,  before  an  aged  man 
with  bald  head  stood  before  him,  holding  a  staff  in  his  hand, 
and  much  resembling  a  dervish  in  appearance.  After  having 
courteously  saluted  him,  Fadhilah  asked  the  old  man  who  he 
was.  Thereupon  the  stranger  answered  “  Bassi  Hadut  Issa, 
I  am  here  by  command  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  who  has  left  me  in 
this  world,  that  I  may  live  therein  until  He  comes  a  second 
time  to  earth.  I  wait  for  the  Lord,  who  is  the  Fountain  of 
Happiness,  and  in  obedience  to  his  command  I  dwell  beyond 
the  mountain.” 

When  Fadhilah  heard  these  words  he  asked  when  the 
Lord  Jesus  would  appear;  and  the  old  man  replied  that  his 
appearing  would  be  at  the  end  of  the  world. 

But  this  only  increased  Fadhilah’s  curiosity,  so  that  he 
inquired  the  signs  of  the  approach  of  the  end  of  all  things  ; 

1  Das  Buch  der  Sagen  und  Legenden  jiidischer  Yorzcit,  p.  45;  Stutt- 
gardt,  1845. 


ISAIAH. 


373 


whereupon  Zerib  bar  Elia  gave  him  an  account  of  the  general 
social  and  moral  dissolution  which  would  be  the  climax  of 
this  world’s  history.1 

“In  the  second  year  of  Hezekiah,”  says  the  Rabbinic 
Sether  Olam  Rabba  (c.  17),  “Elijah  disappeared,  and  he  will 
not  appear  again  till  the  Messiah  come  ;  then  he  will  show 
himself  once  more ;  and  he  will  again  disappear  till  Gog  and 
Magog  show  themselves.  And  all  this  time  he  writes  the 
events  and  transactions  that  happen  in  each  century. . .  .Let¬ 
ters  from  Elijah  were  brought  to  King  Joram  seven  years  after 
Elijah  had  disappeared.” 

A  prophecy  ascribed  to  Elijah  is  preserved  in  the  Gemara :s 
“The  world  will  last  six  thousand  years  ;  it  will  lie  desert  for 
two  thousand  years  \  the  Messiah  will  reign  two  thousand 
years ;  but,  because  of  our  iniquities  which  have  superabounded, 
the  years  of  the  Messiah  have  passed  away.” 

XL. 

ISAIAH. 

The  Book  of  the  Ascension  of  Isaiah  has  reached  us  only  in 
an  Ethiopic  version,  which  was  published  along  with  a  transla¬ 
tion  by  Archbishop  Laurence,  Oxford,  1819.  Gieseler  trans¬ 
lated  the  book,  and  gave  learned  prolegomena,  and  notes, 
Gottingen,  1837  ;  and  Gfrorer  has  included  it  in  his  “  Prophetae 
Pseudepigraphi,”  Stuttgardt,  1840,  pp.  1-55,  with  the  Latin 
translation.  It  must  have  existed  in  Greek  and  Latin,  for  frag¬ 
ments  of  the  Latin  apocryphal  book  remain,  and  have  been 
published  by  Cardinal  Mai,  in  “  Scriptpruin  Veterum  Nova 
Collection”  Romae,  1824,  t.  hi.  ii.  238  et  seq.:  and  it  is  very 
evident  from  these  that  they  are  versions  of  a  Greek  original, 
and  not  of  the  Ethiopic. 

Whilst  Isaiah  was  speaking  to  the  king  Hezeician,  he  sud¬ 
denly  stopped,  and  his  soul  was  borne  away  by  an  angel.  He 
traversed  the  firmament,  where  he  saw  the  strife  of  the  angels 
and  demons,  waged  between  the  earth  and  the  moon.  He  en¬ 
tered  the  six  heavens  and  admired  their  glory7 ;  then  he  pene¬ 
trated  into  the  seventh  heaven,  where  he  saw  the  Holy  Trinity, 

1  Herbclot,  Bibl.  Orient.,  s.  v.  Zerih,  iiL  p,  607. 

•  Gemara,  Avoda  Sara,  c.  L  fbl  *>5 


374 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


and  there  the  events  of  futurity  were  revealed  to  him.  When 
he  returned  to  himself,  Isaiah  related  to  Hezekiat  all  that  he 
had  seen  and  heard,  except  what  concerned  his  son  Manasseh. 

This  is  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah  concerning  Antichrist  :  “And 
when  that  time  had  passed,  Berial,  the  great  angel,  the  prince 
of  this  world,  Berial  will  descend  from  his  place  in  the  form 
of  a  man  ;  an  impious  king,  the  murderer  of  his  mother,  a  king 
of  this  world. 

“  And  he  will  pluck  up  from  amongst  the  twelve  apostles 
the  plant  that  they  had  planted,  and  it  will  fall  into  his  hands. 

“  And  all  the  powers  of  the  world  will  do  the  will  of  the 
ingel  Berial,  the  impious  king. 

“  At  his  word,  the  sun  will  shine  in  the  darkness  of  the 
night,  and  the  moon  will  appear  at  the  eleventh  hour. 

“  He  will  do  all  his  pleasures  ;  he  will  ill-treat  the  Well- 
Beloved,  and  will  say  to  him,  Lo !  I  am  God,  and  before  me 
there  is  none  other. 

“  And  all  the  world  will  believe  in  him. 

“  And  sacrifice  will  be  offered  to  him,  and  a  worship  of 
adoration,  saying,  He  alone  is  God,  and  there  is  none  other. 

“  Then  the  greater  number  of  those  gathered  together  to 
receive  the  Well-Beloved  will  turn  aside  to  Berial ; 

“Who  by  his  power  will  work  miracles  in  the  cities  and  in 
the  country  ; 

“  And  everywhere  shall  a  table  be  spread  for  him. 

“  His  domination  shall  be  for  three  years  seven  months  and 
twenty-seven  days.”  1 

Only  when  Hezekiah  was  at  the  point  of  death,  did  Isaiah 
reveal  to  him  what  and  how  great  would  be  the  iniquities  of 
his  son.  Then  the  king  would  have  slain  Manasseh  :  “  I  had 
rather,”  said  he,  “  die  without  posterity,  than  leave  behind  me 
a  son  who  should  persecute  the  saints.” 

When  the  prophet  saw  that  Hezekiah  loved  God  more  than 
his  own  son,  he  was  glad,  and  he  restrained  the  king,  and  said, 
u  It  is  the  will  of  God  that  he  should  live.” 

Manasseh  reigned  in  the  room  of  his  father,  and  was  a  cruel 
tyrant.  He  worshipped  idols,  and  sought  to  make  Isaiah  par 
take  in  his  idolatry.  And  when  he  could  not  succeed,  he 
sawed  him  asunder  with  a  saw  of  wood. 

“  And  whilst  Isaiah  was  being  cut  asunder,  Melekira  stood 


1  Anabasticon,  iv.  2-12. 


ISAIAH. 


375 

up  and  accused  him,  and  all  the  lying  prophets  were  present, 
and  they  showed  great  joy,  and  they  mocked  him. 

“  And  Belial  said  to  Isaiah  :  ‘  Confess  that  all  thou  hast 
said  is  false,  and  that  the  ways  of  Manasseh  are  good  and  just. 

“  ‘  Confess  that  the  ways  of  Melekira,  and  of  those  that 
are  with  him,  are  good.’ 

“  He  spake  thus  to  him,  as  the  saw  entered  into  his  flesh. 

“  But  Isaiah  was  in  an  ecstasy,  and  his  eyes  were  open, 
and  he  looked  upon  the  spectators  of  his  passion. 

“  Then  said  Melekira  to  Isaiah  :  ‘  Confess  what  I  shall 
say,  and  I  will  change  the  heart  of  those  who  persecute  thee, 
and  I  will  make  Manasseh,  and  the  heads  of  Judah,  and  his 
people,  and  all  Jerusalem  worship  thee.’ 

“  Then  Isaiah  answered  and  said  ;  ‘  Cursed  art  thou  in  all 
that  thou  sayest,  and  in  all  thy  power,  and  in  all  thy  disciples  ! 

“  ‘  Thou  canst  do  nothing  against  me  ;  all  thou  canst  do  is 
to  take  from  me  this  miserable  life.’ 

“  Then  they  seized  the  prophet,  and  they  sawed  him  with 
a  saw  of  wood,  Isaiah,  son  of  Amos. 

“  And  Manasseh  and  Melekira,  and  the  lying  prophets,  and 
the  princes  of  Israel,  and  all  the  people,  beheld  his  execution. 

“  Now  before  that  the  execution  was  accomplished,  he  said 
to  the  prophets  who  had  followed  him:  ‘Flv  to  Tyre  and 
Sidon,  for  the  Lord  hath  given  the  cup  to  me  alone.’ 

“  And  whilst  the  saw  cut  into  his  flesh,  Isaiah  uttered  no 
complaint  and  shed  no  tears  ;  but  he  ceased  not  to  commune 
with  the  Holy  Spirit  till  the  saw  had  cloven  him  to  the  mid¬ 
dle  of  his  body.”  1 

In  the  Mishna2  it  is  related  that  the  Rabbi  Simeon  Ben 
Azai  found  in  Jerusalem  (2d  cent.)  a  genealogy,  wherein  it 
was  written  that  Manasseh  killed  Isaiah.  Manasseh  said  to 
Isaiah,  “  Moses,  thy  master,  said,  There  shall  no  man  see  God 
and  live.3  But  thou  hast  said,  ‘  I  saw  the  Lord  seated  upon 
His  throned  Moses  said,  What  other  nation  is  there  so  great, 
that  hath  God  so  nigh  unto  them  ?  5  But  thou  hast  said,  Seek 
ye  the  Lord  while  He  may  be  found.”6 

Isaiah  thought,  “  If  I  excuse  myself,  I  shall  only  increase 
his  guilt  and  not  save  myself ;  ”  so  he  answered  not  a  word, 
but  pronounced  the  Incommunicable  Name,  and  a  cedar-tree 

1  Anabasticon,  v.  1-14.  2  Tract.  Jebammoth,  c.  4. 

3  Exod.  xxxiii  20.  4Isai.  vi.  1.  5  Deut.  iv.  7. 

6  Isai.  lv.  6. 


376 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


opened,  and  he  disappeared  within  it  Then  Manasseh  or¬ 
dered,  and  they  took  the  cedar,  and  sawed  it  into  lengthways 
and  when  the  saw  reached  his  mouth,  he  died. 


XLL 

JEREMIAH. 

Thk  work  entitled  De  Vtiis  Prophctarum,  falsely  attributed 
to  S.  Epiphanius,  contains  some  apocryphal  details  concerning 
Jeremiah.  It  is  said  that  he  was  stoned  at  Taphensin  Egypt, 
in  a  place  where  Pharaoh  formerly  lived.  He  was  held  in 
great  honor  by  the  Egyptians,  because  of  the  service  he  had 
rendered  them  in  taming  the  serpents  and  crocodiles. 

The  faithful  who  take  a  little  dust  from  the  spot  where  he 
died,  are  able  to  employ  it  as  a  reu.w^  against  the  bites  of 
serpents,  and  to  drive  away  crocodiles. 

The  prophet  announced  to  the  priests  and  wise  men  of 
Egypt  that  when  a  virgin,  who  had  borne  a  son,  should  set  her 
foot  on  Egyptian  soil,  all  the  idols  should  fall. 

Before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  he  hid  the  ark  of  the 
covenant  in  a  rock,  which  opened  for  the  purpose,  and  closed 
upon  it.  Then  said  he  to  the  princes  of  the  people  and  to 
the  elders,  “The  Lord  has  gone  up  from  Sinai,  but  He  will 
come  again  with  His  sacred  power.  And  this  shall  be  the 
token  of  His  coming, — all  nations  shall  bow  before  the  Wood.” 

Then  the  prophet  continued,  “  None  of  the  priests  and 
prophets  shall  open  the  ark,  except  Moses,  the  elect  of  God  ; 
and  Aaron  shall  alone  unfold  the  tables  it  contains.  At  the 
Resurrection,  the  ark  shall  arise  out  of  the  rock  first  of  all, 
and  it  shall  be  placed  upon  Mount  Zion.  Then  all  the  saints 
will  go  there  and  await  the  Lord,  and  they  will  put  the  enemy 
to  flight  who  seeks  their  destruction.” 

Having  said  these  words,  he  traced  with  his  finger  the 
name  of  God  upon  the  rock,  and  the  name  remained  graven 
there  as  if  cut  with  iron.  Then  a  cloud  descended  upon  the 
rock  and  hid  it,  and  no  man  has  seen  it  since.  It  is  in  the 
desert,  amongst  the  mountains,  where  are  the  tombs  of  Moses 
and  Aaron.  At  night  a  cloud  of  fire  shines  above  the  spot. 


EZEKfEL. 


377 


XLIL 

EZEKIEL. 

Ezekiel,  whom  the  Arabs  call  Kazquil,  w’as  the  son  of  an 
aged  couple,  who  had  no  children.  They  prayed  to  God,  and 
Fie  gave  them  a  son. 

Ezekiel  was  a  prophet,  and  he  exhorted  the  men  of  Jerusa¬ 
lem  to  war,  but  they  would  not  go  forth  to  battle.  Then  God 
sent  a  pestilence,  and  there  died  of  them  every  day  very  many. 
So,  fearing  death,  a  million  fled  from  the  city,  hoping  to  es¬ 
cape  the  pestilence,  but  the  wrath  of  God  overtook  them,  and 
they  fell  dead. 

Then  those  who  survived  in  the  city  went  forth  to  bury  them, 
but  they  were  too  numerous ;  therefore  they  built  a  wall  round 
the  corpses,  to  protect  them  from  the  beasts  of  the  field  ;  and 
thus  they  lay  exposed  to  the  heat  and  cold  for  many  years,  till 
the  flesh  had  rotted  off  their  bones. 

Once  the  prophet  Ezekiel  came  that  way,  and  he  saw  this 
great  multitude  of  dead  and  dry  bones.  He  prayed,  and  God 
restored  them  to  life  again,  and  they  stood  upon  their  feet  a 
_  great  army,  and  entered  into  the  city,  and  lived  out  the  rest  of 
their  days.  It  is  said  that  among  the  Jews  there  are,  to  this 
day,  descendants  of  those  who  were  resuscitated,  and  they  may 
be  recognized  by  the  corpse-like  odor  they  exhale.1 

The  Jews  relate  that  a  celebrated  Rabbi  found  the  greatest 
-difficulty  in  comprehending  the  book  of  Ezekiel  ;  therefore  his 
disciples  prepared  for  him  three  hundred  tuns  of  oil  to  feed 
his  lamp  whilst  he  studied  at  night  the  visions  of  the  prophet* 


.  XLia 
EZRA. 

Cyrus,  in  the  year  537  before  Christ,  put  an  end  to  the  cap¬ 
tivity  of  the  Jews  in  Babylon,  as  had  been  foretold  by  Daniel ; 
and  not  only  did  he  permit  the  Jews  to  return  to  Jerusalem, 
but  he  furnished  them  with  the  means  of  rebuilding  their  city 


1  Tabari,  L  c.  83. 


•  Bartolocci,  L  p.  848. 


37§ 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


and  temple.  The  Oriental  writers,  to  explain  the  motive  of 
Cyrus,  say  that  his  mother  was  a  Jewess,  and  that  he  himself 
was  married  to  the  Jewess  Maschat,  sister  of  Zerubabbel,  a 
granddaughter  of  the  king  Jehoiakim. 

In  523  before  Christ,  Qjmbyses,  having  reigned  a  brief 
time,  was  succeeded  by  Smerdis,  the  Magian,  who  is  called, 
in  the  Scriptures,  Artaxerxes.  He,  being  ill-disposed  towards 
the  Jews,  withdrew  from  them  the  gifts  made  by  Cyrus,  and 
arrested  their  work.  Smerdis,  however,  reigned  only  two 
years,  and  was  succeeded  by  Darius  Hystaspes,  who  con¬ 
tinued  the  work  of  Cyrus,  by  the  hands  of  Ezra  or  Esdras, 
one  of  the  instruments  used  by  God  to  restore  his  people. 

Ezra  was  the  son  of  Seraiah,  of  the  lineage  of  Aaron. 

In  the  Koran  1  it  is  said  that  Ezra,  passing  through  a  vil¬ 
lage  near  Jerusalem,  whose  houses  were  ruined,  exclaimed, 
“  Can  God  restore  these  waste  places,  and  revive  the  in¬ 
habitants  ?  ” 

Then  God  made  him  die  ;  and  he  remained  dead  for  one 
hundred  years.  At  the  end  of  that  time  God  revived  him, 
and  he  saw  the  village  rebuilt  and  full  of  busy  people. 

The  commentators  on  the  Koran  say  that  Ezra  (Ozair), 
when  young,  had  been  taken  away  captive  by  Nebuchadnezzar, 
but  that  he  was  delivered  miraculously  from  prison,  and  re¬ 
turned  to  Jerusalem,  which  he  found  in  ruins.  He  halted  at 
a  village  near  the  city,  named  Sair-Abad.  Its  houses  were 
fallen  and  without  inhabitants,  but  the  fig  tree  and  vines  re¬ 
mained  in  the  gardens.  Ezra  collected  the  fruit,  and  made 
himself  a  little  cell  out  of  the  fallen  stones.  And  he  kept 
near  him  the  ass  on  which  he  had  ridden. 

The  holy  man,  on  contemplating  from  his  hermitage  the 
ruins  of  the  holy  city  and  the  temple,  wept  bitterly  before 
the  Lord,  and  said  often  with  a  tone  rather  of  lament 
than  doubt,  “  How  can  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  ever  be  set  up 
again  ?  ” 

Then  God  bade  him  die,  and  hid  him  from  the  eyes  of  men, 
in  his  cell,  with  all  that  he  had  about  him,  his  fruit,  his  mat, 
and  his  ass.  At  the  close  of  a  century  God  revived  him,  and 
he  found  all  as  when  he  had  died  ;  the  ass  standing,  and  the 
fruit  un withered.  Then  Ezra  saw  the  works  that  had  been 
executed  in  Jerusalem,  how  the  walls  were  being  set  up,  and 


1  Sura.  ii. 


EZRA. 


379 


the  breaches  repaired,  and  he  said,  “God  is  Almighty;  He 
can  do  whatsoever  pleaseth  him  !  ” 

After  his  resurrection,  he  went  into  the  holy  city,  and  spent 
night  and  day  in  explaining  to  the  people  the  Law,  as  he  re¬ 
membered  it.  But  it  had  been  forgotten  by  the  Jews,  and 
therefore  they  disregarded  his  instruction. 

The  Iman  Thalebi  says,  that  the  Jews,  to  test  the  mission 
of  Ezra,  placed  five  pens  in  his  hand,  and  with  each  he  wrote 
at  the  same  moment  with  like  facility  as  if  he  held  only  one ; 
and  he  wrote  all  the  Books  of  the  Sacred  Canon,  as  he  drew 
them  from  his  memory,  without  the  assistance  of  a  book. 

The  Jews,  however,  said  amongst  themselves,  “How  can 
we  be  sure  that  what  Ezra  has  written  is  the  true  sacred  text, 
since  there  is  none  amongst  us  who  can  bear  witness  ?  ” 

Then  one  of  them  said,  “  I  have  heard  say  that  my  grand¬ 
father  preserved  a  copy  of  the  sacred  books,  and  that  they 
were  hidden  by  him  in  a  hollow  rock,  which  he  marked  so 
that  it  might  be  recognized  again.” 

They  therefore  sought  the  place  which  had  been  marked, 
and  there  they  found  a  volume  containing  the  Scriptures,  which 
having  been  compared  with  what  Ezra  had  written,  it  was 
found  that  the  agreement  was  exact.  Then  the  people,  aston¬ 
ished  at  the  miracle,  cried  out  that  Ezra  was  a  god.1 

At  the  time  of  carrying  away  into  Babylon,  the  sacred  fire 
had  been  cast  into  a  well  in  the  temple  court.  Ezra,  having 
drawn  some  of  the  dirt  out  of  the  well,  placed  on  it  the  wood 
of  the  sacrifice  ;  then  the  flame,  which  for  a  hundred  and  for¬ 
ty  years  had  been  extinguished,  burst  forth  again  out  of  the 
mire.  When  Ezra  saw  this  wonder,  he  thrice  drank  of  the 
dust  out  of  the  well ;  and  thus  he  imbibed  the  prophetic  spir¬ 
it,  and  the  power  of  recomposing  from  memory  the  lost  sacred 
books.8 

Herbelot,  Bibliothdque  OrienUle,  iii.  p,  89.  *  Abulfkraj.  n 


380 


OLD  TESTAMENT  CHARACTERS. 


XLIV. 

ZECHARIAH. 

Sozomen1  relates  that  the  prophet  Zechariah  appeared  to 
Colomeras,  a  farmer  of  the  village  of  Chupher,  in  Palestine, 
and  revealed  to  him  his  tomb  ;  and  on  excavations  having 
been  made  on  the  spot,  an  ancient  Hebrew  book  was  discov¬ 
ered,  which,  however,  was  not  regarded  as  canonical.  Nice- 
phoras  repeats  the  story  after  Sozomen.2 


1  Hist.  Eccles.  lib  ix.  cap.  ult 


*  Ibid.,  lib.  xiv.  c  8. 


